Donald Trump Jr. was widely condemned Monday on social media for his tweet comparing poisoned candy to Syrian refuges.
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Wrigley Americas, the candy manufacturer that produces Skittles, told The Hollywood Reporter they feel the analogy is inappropriate.
Typically, brands have had the opportunity to latch on to current events in real time, responding via fun, and often whimsical, tweets to draw attention to their brands. Instead of three being poison, The Daily Show host says the entire bowl is poison and people only want to focus on the three pieces of candy that aren’t. The photo of the bowl of Skittles was taken by a refugee from Turkey now living in Britain, who denounced Trump for using it.
“In 1974, when I was 6 years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus”, Kittos told BBC News.
The 48-year-old Kittos said he’s never offered the photo for sale, and he would never agree to sell it to Trump. “Would you take a handful?” it reads. Donald Trump Jr. sparked outrage after comparing Syrian refugees to poisonous Skittles in a tweet on Monday, September 19.
He said he considered involving lawyers, but he did not know if he had the patience.
David Kittos, who took the photo, said he would never approve of the use of the photo against refugees as he was a former refugee himself.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump Foundation gave out $258,000 to settle two legal disputes against Donald Trump’s for-profit businesses, as well as two other instances that also appear to be prohibited “self-dealing” by a foundation.
After critics slammed the tweet for mischaracterizing the refugee vetting process, senior communications adviser Jason Miller brushed off criticism, calling Trump Jr. Trump Jr. further editorialized in his tweet, saying “Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first”.
Kittos said he wanted Trump Jr to delete the image, which he took at his home studio six years ago.
“A nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself”, Obama declared without mentioning Trump by name or his proposed wall on the U.S. -Mexico border to stop immigrants coming from Latin American countries.
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Some posts also highlighted a Cato Institute study that put the chances of being killed by a refugee in a terrorist attack at 1 in more than 3.6 billion.
