WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) — So much for tasting the rainbow.
Candy maker Skittles was briefly thrust into the 2016 presidential campaign on Monday after Donald Trump Jr., son of the Republican nominee, referenced the candy in a tweet to make a point about the Syrian refugee crisis.
Trump Jr. tweeted a picture of a bowl of Skittles with the caption: “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? This image says it all. Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first. #trump2016.”
Donald Trump has called for ending the U.S. policy accepting refugees fleeing the war in Syria, arguing that U.S. immigration officials cannot ensure that none of the asylum-seekers from Syria are secretly members of the Islamic State.
The United States has accepted more than 10,000 refugees from Syria in the last 10 months.
Trump has called for the immediate halt to U.S. immigration from Syria and other Muslim countries where terrorists are known to operate.
Critics responded to Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, many with pictures of horrific violence in the country, expressing outrage at likening the tens of thousands killed there to candy.
Skittles’ parent company Wrigley responded to Trump Jr. in a brief statement, also critical of the comparison.
“Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy,” Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in the statement. “We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.”
