Trump Uses Debunked 'Pig's Blood' Story

He calls for Apple boycott while tweeting from iPhone
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2016 9:01 AM CST
Trump Uses Debunked 'Pig's Blood' Story
A young boy waits to meet Donald Trump during a campaign stop Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Is Donald Trump getting campaign material from email forwards? On Friday, he fired up a crowd at an event in South Carolina with a dubious tale of how General John Pershing allegedly treated Muslim terrorists when the US was fighting insurgents in the Philippines early last century, NBC reports. Pershing "took the 50 terrorists, and he took 50 men, and he dipped 50 bullets in pig’s blood," Trump said. The general then "had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people," Trump continued "And the 50th person he said: you go back to your people and you tell them what happened. And for 25 years there wasn't a problem."

Trump told the crowd that "this is something you can read in the history books," the Guardian reports, though Snopes has found no evidence for it. Trump also told supporters that they should boycott Apple until the company complies with a federal request to help the FBI break into the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Apple CEO "Tim Cook is looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is," Trump complained. CNN reports that while Trump was speaking, his Twitter account tweeted a poll—from an iPhone. He later tweeted: "I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn't give info to authorities on the terrorists I'll only be using Samsung until they give info." (A Canadian island is fielding queries from Americans who fear a Trump presidency.)

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