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Ex-Michigan Rep. John Dingell's tweet about Charlottesville goes viral

Posted at 6:42 AM, Aug 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-14 10:51:00-04

Social media was abuzz over the weekend as many people shared out their emotions, thoughts and more after white supremacists and counter-protestors clashed in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday morning.

While tweets poured in across the world, it was one tweet from an ex-Michigan congressman that went viral for what he had to say.

John Dingell, 91, is the longest-serving member of Congress in history, and was one of the last two World War II veterans to leave office in 2014.

"I signed up to fight Nazis 73 years ago and I'll do it again if I have to. Hatred, bigotry, & fascism should have no place in this country," Dingell tweeted.

As of Monday morning, the tweet had more than 257,000 retweets and 740,000 likes.

On Sunday, he added, "What happened yesterday was radical terrorism, @realDonaldTrump. Refusal to identify it, denounce, it & fight it makes one complicit in it."

According to NPR, Dingell enlisted when he was 18 years old, but did not see combat, saying the atomic bomb was the reason.