Internet responds to Donald Trump Jr's comparison between refugees and Skittles 'that could kill you'

'If you had a family of Trumps and one of them couldn't tell the difference between poisoned candy and people, would you vote one for President?' a Twitter user asked

As outrage continues over comments made by Donald Trump’s son comparing refugees to deadly Skittles, social media users have been offering their own versions of the meme.

Donald Trump Jr shared an image carrying official campaign branding on Monday, in support of his father’s Presidential campaign.

“If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?” it said. “That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”

The image, including a bowl of sweets and the slogan “Make America great again!”, was accompanied by a comment by Mr Trump’s son saying: “This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first.“

His comments swiftly sparked criticism, including from a former Republican Congressman and right-wing radio host who accused him of repeating his own comments.

Sharing one of his own tweets, Joe Walsh wrote: “Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month. Glad you agree.”

On 13 August, he had written: “If I had a bowl of Skittles and told you 3 of them would kill you: Would you eat a handful? No? This is our refugee problem.”

Many Twitter users were offering their own versions of the Skittles meme to challenge Mr Trump Jr:

Others were in little doubt over what they would do in the situation:

Many were drawing attention to the plight of Syrian refugees:

Several were disappointed that the Twitter trend was not actually about sweets:

And lot of people seemed concerned for Skittles’ public relations team:

Denise Young, Vice President of corporate affairs at manufacturers Wrigley Americas gave a response on behalf of the company.

She said: “Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy.”

Mr Trump has sparked several rounds of controversy with his policies on refugees and immigration, including repeated proposals to build a wall along the Mexican border and a vow to ban all Muslims from entering the US, which he has since backed down on.

He has repeatedly suggested that Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s civil war are a terror threat, calling them a “Trojan horse” in November, before winning the Republican nomination.