Ruby Rose warns we should be scared of Donald Trump and not laugh at him after Skittles row

Ruby Rose (REX Features)

Ruby Rose has warned those who find Donald Trump funny or treat his remarks as amusing to start taking the Republican nominee more seriously after his son tweeted a meme comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of skittles.

Donald Trump prompted a backlash on Monday after tweeting an image of a bowl of sweets alongside the caption: “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”

Mr Trump Jr. shared the image, writing: “This image says it all. Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first.”

Rose questioned how, in light of this, people can still think of the real-estate mogul and his campaign as funny instead of scary.

The outrage was not limited to the Orange is the New Black actress and a day after Mr Trump Jnr sent the tweet, ‘Skittles’ was still in the top 10 trends on Twitter with people both mocking and condemning the comparison.

Skittles themselves responded to the row, issuing a statement saying: “Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.”

The comment from Mr Trump Jr is not far from his father’s, often disparaging, rhetoric around refugees. In February, the 70-year-old said he would have “absolutely no problem” looking a Syrian refugee child in the eye and telling them to “go home”. He has also suggested Syrian refugees are a terror threat, calling them a “Trojan horse”. A month later, he famously proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States.