Donald Trump’s final rally before Saturday’s primary in South Carolina hit hard on terrorism and national security issues before the GOP front-runner went off on a conspiracy-tinged tangent about a U.S. military general’s alleged mass execution of Muslims.
More than 100 years ago, General John Pershing has been said to have killed dozens of Muslim prisoners in the Philippines during a war that involved U.S. forces.
“He took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pig’s blood and he had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people and they shot 49 of those people. 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, okay?” Trump said at a rally in Charleston Friday night.
The point of the story, Trump explained, was to insist America becomes more vigilant against Islamic extremism. It was also very likely made up, though not by Trump. The myth debunking website snopes.com labels it a recurring “legend.”
Trump’s terrorism focus started at the onset of the event when South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster took the stage and asked the audience, “How many of you feel real safe right now?”
The crowd yelled back a resounding “No!”
McMaster responded, “We’re gonna change that.”
The Manhattan real estate tycoon’s speech also touched on waterboarding, an interrogation technique that has been criticized as torture by some. Trump reiterated a promise he made during a Republican debate, saying he would bring back the tactic for questioning suspected terrorists.
“Is it torture or not? It’s so borderline,” he said. “It’s like minimal, minimal, minimal torture.”
Trump, who is currently ranked first in the Washington Examiner’s national power rankings, is also the top-polling candidate in the Palmetto State, according to other surveys released late in the week.
