Internet shows Donald Trump Jr. the real humans behind his Skittles meme

Humans are not Skittles.
 By 
Ariel Bogle
 on 

On Monday evening, Donald Trump Jr. sent forth unto the internet a meme that was both moronic and incorrect.

"If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take handful?" the son of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump asked his Twitter followers, despite his wobbly grasp of punctuation. "That's our Syrian refugee problem."

Here's the glaring problem with reducing the complicated issue of Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles: People aren't a sugary junk food.


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On social media, people made this clear with heartbreaking accuracy.

Many shared photos of Omran Daqneesh, whose image became symbolic of Syria's turmoil in August after it was shared by rescuers.

Not a Skittle, but a 5-year-old boy, dazed and bloodied after an airstrike in Aleppo. Not a red or green Skittle, but someone who would soon lose a brother, Ali Daqneesh, only 10, to injuries from the airstrike.

Trump Jr.'s tweet may find an audience, thanks to its easily digestible take on a complex situation. But one thing seems for certain: the prospect of his father becoming president in November is leaving many people in America with a nasty sugar headache.

Mashable Image
Ariel Bogle

Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.

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