Donald Trump slammed, then praised, the actions of protesters demonstrating against his election victory in two contradictory tweets sent Thursday evening and early Friday morning.
In Thursday evening's tweet, he accused protesters of being "professional" and incited by the media" and slammed their actions as "very unfair."
It was the first tweet Trump — a prolific user of the platform — had sent since meeting President Obama at the White House on Thursday.
However, following overnight protests in Portland, Los Angeles, Oakland, and other US cities, Trump said he "loved the fact that small groups of protesters have "passion" for our country" in a tweet sent Friday morning.
Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!
Trump's second tweet was similar to the conciliatory tone he adopted during his victory speech on Wednesday, when he said he said it was time for "America to bind the wounds of division" before praising his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, adding that the American people owe her a "major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.”
That speech was in contrast to his tone during the campaign, where he repeatedly branded Clinton "Crooked Hillary" and said she should be "in jail" over her email scandal, and consistently employed divisive rhetoric against Mexicans, Muslims, and other minorities.
Trump's tweets prompted opponents on social media to share another tweet of his, from 2012, when he mistakenly thought Mitt Romney had won the popular vote but lost the electoral college to Barack Obama and called for protests.
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
Yesterday, Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted that President Obama or Hillary Clinton should step up to condemn a protester who called for violence in an interview that aired on CNN.
Not cool. @POTUS or Hillary should address. 'People Have to Die': Anti-Trump Protester Calls For Violence on CNN https://t.co/NfEqhkrTvu
Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani also branded protesters "spoiled crybabies" in an interview with Fox News, but urged the president-elect to reach out to them regardless, Politico reported.