Noting the passing Thursday of the “Queen of Soul,” President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting offered his “warmest best wishes and sympathies” to the family of Aretha Franklin, according to the White House press pool.
But Trump also called the singer and songwriter “a person I knew well,” and as someone who “worked for me on numerous occasions.”
Trump also said her “legacy will thrive and inspire” many generations.
“I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well,” Trump said. “She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific. Aretha Franklin, on her passing. She’s brought joy to millions of lives,” the President told Cabinet members.
Franklin, it should be noted, was also known as the “voice of the civil rights movement.”
Some on social media were quick to make a comparison to former President Barack Obama’s remarks honoring Franklin.
This report has been updated with video and the actual quotes.