Donald Trump Jr. is facing intense backlash on social media after he posted a message on Twitter Monday night that compared Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles sprinkled with a few that "would kill you."
"This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first," the post said.
Mr. Trump, a top adviser in his father's presidential campaign, was suggesting that the nation was faced with a blind selection process in which a few potentially poisoned pieces would be lurking among the thousands of Syrians fleeing a brutal five-year-old civil war.
The post, shared widely on Twitter, drew swift condemnation and comparisons to white supremacist memes. But Mr. Trump's running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, criticized the blowback in an interview on MSNBC.
"It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr., the image isn't going to stick in anyone's mind. All the while our F.B.I. and public-safety officials tell us that we can't know for sure who those skittles are coming into this country."
