Donald Trump Jr has used a Twitter post to liken Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles and suggest that America should not accept any.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016
This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN
The tweet sparked outrage on social media, with some users posting harrowing images of Syrians caught up in the civil war juxtaposed with the word Skittles.
— Nish Weiseth (@NishWeiseth) September 20, 2016
Skittles. pic.twitter.com/inCjwrwzfd
Jon Favreau, Barack Obama’s former speechwriter, was scathing.
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2016Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, this is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today: https://t.co/SDSGw0eUIP pic.twitter.com/HuhY9RGvWW
Reza Aslan, the religious scholar and author, did not mince his words.
— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) September 20, 2016Like piece of shit father, like piece of shit son. https://t.co/KHZRCANKa4
The singer John Legend was similarly unimpressed.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) September 20, 2016By that logic, you would take everyone's guns away. Because someone is gonna kill somebody at some point. But I guess that doesn't count. https://t.co/3BraX0Ew19
In a series of tweets, Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of the website Mother Jones, lambasted Trump Jr and contrasted his comments with her mother’s efforts to help refugees from the Cambodian genocide:
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 20, 20161/ Re Skittles, a personal tale. After the Cambodian genocide began. My mom started taping pictures and headlines to our dining room wall.
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 20, 20163/ I was ~9. She started sponsoring refugees. We were clueless white people. There was no real preexisting Cambodian community in DCmetro.
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 20, 20165/ Many followed. Horrible stories. One toddler had a crease across his nose from a bullet. Mass graves. Rapes.
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 20, 20167/ That trauma took its toll on all of them, some in more obvious ways. And it took its toll on my family too.
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 20, 20169/ Donald Trump Jr, never has known hardship. Nor charity. There’s utterly no evidence his family has ever done good by anyone.
Apart from being controversial, the tweet is not actually original. Joe Walsh, the former congressman and rightwing talk show host whose statements have been criticized as incendiary, has voiced similar ideas.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 20, 2016
Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month.
Glad you agree. pic.twitter.com/Nssw6KC1HY
As well as the content of the tweet, some people took issue with Trump Jr’s grammar.
— Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) September 20, 2016
Beyond the blinding stupidity & accidental great argument for firing all cops, this was punctuated by an illiterate. pic.twitter.com/UfUowGGjI9
Some came with the facts.
— matt blaze (@mattblaze) September 20, 2016If you told me that three @skittles in each bowl are poisonous, I'd look at the data and conclude that you're wrong about Skittle safety.
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) September 20, 2016Each green dot represents 3 refugees admitted to the U.S. since 9/11. None of them will kill you. And none of them are Skittles. pic.twitter.com/FhgRJCNdTt
And others responded with humour.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) September 20, 2016I think we should stop eating any #Skittles. Just until we find out what's going on.
— Nicky Woolf (@NickyWoolf) September 20, 2016TRUMP CAMPAIGN: what if we told you three skittles in this bowl are-
ME: *in front of empty bowl of skittles, through mouthful* mmf whhf?
One Twitter user has suggested how Wrigley, the company that owns Skittles, could respond.
— Kyle (@heydudekyle) September 20, 2016Here @Skittles I got you. "For every pack of Skittles you buy between now and Nov. 8, we'll donate $1 to support refugees."
A spokeswoman for Wrigley later told the Guardian that Trump Jnr’s analogy was inappropriate.
“Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it is an appropriate analogy,” she said.
“We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.”