What Is the Donald Trump 'Pig's Blood' Myth About?
For a man who rambles on about "fake news," President Donald Trump sure is peddling one like there's no tomorrow. Shortly after the deadly terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain, the commander in chief talked about a certain myth involving pig's blood.
As a reference on how to deal with radical Islamists, Trump tweeted about the alleged use of pig blood by U.S. General John J. Pershing to quell a rebellion of Muslims in the Philippines.
Most probably, the president was trying to direct the readers of his tweet to the claim that in 1911, Pershing had put down a Muslim insurgency in the Southern Philippines by forcing the rebels to watch their comrades being executed with bullets dipped in pig's blood. He then proceeded to bury their bodies wrapped in pigskin and entrails.
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To Muslims, this is no less than desecration as eating and even touching pork is forbidden in Islam. To do so means eternal damnation and Pershing's alleged actions denied the Muslims their chance to enter paradise. Thus, a 35-year-long peace was achieved in the region.
There's only one problem with this account of Pershing's exploits in the Philippines: it is completely made up. Historians and fact checkers have already debunked the claim which begs the question, where does the president get his facts?
According to Snopes, any version of this story is false. No mention of the "pig's blood" incident is made in any of the general's biographies. In fact, there is also no mention of the executed Muslims in the Southern Philippines during the Moro Insurgency.
Rather, Pershing took extreme care not to provoke the Moros in taking radical action. Instead of storming their mountain stronghold and killing every rebel, he simply cut off their supplies hoping to make them surrender without much loss of life for both sides.
Trump is already mired in controversy following the deadly rally at Charlottesville. Provoking Muslims using pig's blood would only do more harm than good especially in this tenuous political climate.
