Fresh off a campaign shakeup, Donald Trump is facing new allegations that people who work for him are making questionable statements about Muslims online.
Is the religion of Islam a “barbaric cult?” That’s what Mark Kevin Lloyd, a deputy campaign manager for Trump’s campaign in Virginia, posted on Facebook. The Associated Press also uncovered posts by Lloyd that said Barack Obama was aiding Iran as part of a “final solution to the Israel problem” as well as a meme saying people should be forced to eat bacon before being allowed to purchase a firearms. Stephen Farnsworth is a professor at the University of Mary Washington.
“Donald Trump has made it pretty clear that he’s not going to be all that sympathetic to Muslims in this country, and if a Muslim has been all that undecided about Donald Trump they might not have been paying a lot of attention."
Robert Denton at Virginia Tech says the revelations don’t necessarily change anything. But that’s part of the problem because they underscore existing problems for the Trump campaign.
“So I do not think it changes the dynamics, but it just reinforced the persona, which is part of Trump’s biggest problems right now is trying to change his image. And, of course, it’s getting too little and too late for him to do so."
The Associated Press also looked at social media postings for more than three dozen people who worked for Hillary Clinton and found nothing inflammatory.
