It’s been a few weeks since the most recent Donald Trump media scandal. Welcome to #SkittleGate.
Monday night, the US presidential candidate’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted a plagiarized quote from former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh, comparing refugees to poisoned Skittles.
Here's the tweet that started it all.
This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016
This quite immediately led to a predictable Twitter-fueled firestorm. People on both side of the aisle used the tweet as an opportunity to make political statements, while others used the hashtag #SkittlesWelcome to show openness to immigration. Still others took up fault with the grammar of Trump Jr.’s tweet.
Vote @HillaryClinton Nov 8th - Taste the rainbow. #SkittlesWelcomepic.twitter.com/fC8T0MViKu
— Bambi St Jay (@BambiStJay) September 20, 2016
The image of Omran Daqneesh, which went viral earlier this summer, was evoked.
@DonaldJTrumpJr This is the refugee crisis. Not skittles. This. #SkittlesWelcome@realDonaldTrumppic.twitter.com/IYPIUwTHdv
— Sheila G. (@Sheila_Gotti) September 20, 2016
By using skittles in his racist analogy @DonaldJTrumpJr is once again propagating racist memes #SkittlesWelcomehttps://t.co/6ty0Fm9xFy
— Aidan O'Brien (@8den) September 20, 2016
And then there's this.
The photo of the bowl of Skittles was taken by a refugee. https://t.co/4wcBFopvzp
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 20, 2016
Then, the inevitable backlash.
#SkittlesWelcome
— Jose (@JoeTheMailman) September 20, 2016
BREAKING NEWS !!!!!
I FOUND THE 3 POISONOUS SKITTLES pic.twitter.com/QTqNk6DjQ3
Read the hashtag yourself on Twitter (be ready for lots of vitriol from both sides of the aisle).
The best tweet of all, however, comes from Seth Abramovitch, a senior reporter at The Hollywood Reporter, who reached out to Skittles (a subsidiary of Wrigley) for a response to the meme.
A rep for @Skittles gives me their response to @DonaldJTrumpJrpic.twitter.com/OmkJQkIqug
— Seth Abramovitch (@SethAbramovitch) September 20, 2016
To put things in perspective: in the day the Internet debated the dangers of Skittles, the U.N. general assembly convened in New York City to discuss the refugee and migrant crisis, another unarmed black U.S. citizen was shot by police on camera, and Americans spent almost $300,000 dollars on candy. But who’s counting?