Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. Secretary of State, died Monday morning of complications from COVID-19. The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was 84 and battling a blood cancer that impacts the body’s ability to fight infections, along with Parkinson’s. His family in a statement said he was fully vaccinated.

Powell served under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, including serving as United States National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

News of his death has shocked the nation, with many who knew him sharing their memories of the highly-respected diplomat and military leader.

A sampling.

In the end, Colin Powell was a man who slowly evolved over his 84 years on earth.

He was a Black Republican who ultimately left the Republican Party.

He supported the Iraq War but later came to regret it.

And he once opposed gays in the military but later endorsed the idea.

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 18, 2021

And for those who don’t know or remember him, General Colin Powell was, perhaps, the most respected Black person in American politics in the 1990s.

He was widely expected to be the first Black president, and his decision not to run was front-page news.https://t.co/4eQIQdU7lG pic.twitter.com/m0yYgLrMbf

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 18, 2021

My deepest condolences to the entire Powell family on the passing of Colin Powell. A great American whose selflessness marked his military and diplomatic service to this country in so many ways. It was a great honor and privilege to know and work for him.

— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) October 18, 2021

Statement from former President George W. Bush on the passing of Sec. Colin Powell pic.twitter.com/ilPWTvlA1L

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) October 18, 2021

On a personal note, he was always kind, generous with his time and insights and a great example to me of what is best about Washington. He was a good man, a mensch. He will be deeply missed.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 18, 2021

Colin Powell was the North Star to a generation of senior American military officers including me. First call I made for advice as NATO commander was to him. Godspeed and open water to a General for the ages.

— stavridisj (@stavridisj) October 18, 2021

This article will be updated with more reactions throughout the day.

Image by U.S. Department of State via Flickr 

A discussion on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on comments made by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who said he didn’t see Donald Trump successfully winning the 2024 presidential election, led to an agreement by host Joe Scarborough and marketing expert Donny Deutsch that the GOP could reclaim the White House that year — as long as Trump wasn’t the Republican Party candidate.

Speaking with Axios, the Louisana Republican questioned whether Trump could even be the nominee, saying, “President Trump is the first president in the Republican side at least to lose the House, the Senate and the presidency in four years. Elections are about winning.”

Using that as a springboard, host Scarborough asked Deutsch whether Cassidy was off base with his comments.

“Does Donald Trump still own the Republican Party? Yes,” Scarborough began. “But that Republican Party is a lot smaller and a lot less influential in suburbs across America and more educated Americans if you look at the polling number. Again, I know everybody is scared of Donald Trump, it just does not seem like the trend lines are going well for him in terms of putting together a coalition that can win.”

“Here is the fact,” Deutsch exclaimed. “If the Republicans ran anybody but Donald Trump, they would win in a landslide. Anybody just right of center.”

“Anybody?” the MSNBC host prompted.” Donny, nobody has said this enough. You go back and look at 2020, Democrats were shocked by how badly they underperformed in the House and shocked how badly they underperformed in the Senate. Donald Trump had to work overtime to make Mitch McConnell the minority leader in Georgia — they had to work overtime to lose that. You look at state legislatures across America that were less connected to Trump and they did very well. You look at governorships less connected to Trump and they did very well. Republicans had a pretty, darn good election cycle in 2020 despite the fact they should have been wiped off the face of the political earth because of the insanity and the neo-fascism Donald Trump was pushing.”

“If anybody except for Trump ran, they would have won by 20 points,” Scarborough added.

“I would like to to see polls, a poll of Trump against Biden, which I think Trump would eke out a victory, ” Deutsch claimed. “But then I want to see pools with Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis or fill in the blank and they’ll win by double digits. You know, I live in this bubble and this very kind of blue state and I can’t tell you the unrest with the feeling the Democrats are in control and running things and Biden is not putting his hands on the wheel and nobody on deck. That is the concern the Democrats have. If Republicans are smart they would move away from Trump. Can they and will they? You and I don’t know that. But, clearly, if they did, it would be a landslide.”

Watch below:

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg perfectly dismissed conservative critics who took issue with his taking paternity leave following the premature birth of his twins.

Sitting down with host Jake Tapper, the Democrat sat and watched a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson making a crude joke about “breastfeeding” — which led Buttigieg to make his case.

“What’s your response?” host Tapper asked.

“As you might imagine, we are bottle feeding and doing it at all hours of the day and night,” Buttigieg explained while smiling. “I’m not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of our premature twins. The work we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, important work — it’s important work and it’s work that every American ought to be able to do whether they welcome a new child into their family.”

“I campaigned on that, so did the president, by the way,” he continued. “We are pretty much the only country left that doesn’t have some kind of national policy for paid leave. I think it’s us and New Guinea. It’s past time to make it possible for every American, mother and father, to take care of their children when a new child arrived in the family.”

Watch below:

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Pete Buttigieg Brilliantly Destroys Tucker Carlson After Fox Host’s Homophobic Hit Job

Tucker Carlson Unleashes Ugly Homophobic Attack on Pete Buttigieg – and Every Parent Taking Paternity Leave