CNN Politics
North Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)Donald Trump
on Friday cited an apocryphal story about a U.S. general who
purportedly dipped bullets in pigs' blood to execute Muslim prisoners a
century ago in an effort to deter Islamic terrorism.
Speaking
at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump reiterated his
claim that the U.S. should "go much further" than waterboarding
suspected terrorists, telling the story of Gen. John Pershing in the
Philippines, who Trump said captured 50 Muslim prisoners a century ago
and dipped 50 bullets in blood.
"And
he lined up the 50 people and they shot 49 of those 50 people, and he
said to the 50th, you go back to your people and you tell them what
happened -- and in 25 years there wasn't a problem," Trump said to the
audience, which grew quiet as he told the story.
Coming in contact with swine is forbidden under Islamic law.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a
request for comment about what Trump was suggesting in referencing the
story, which Snopes, a website that investigates urban myths and
legends, was unable to corroborate a year ago.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called the story "bizarre" during an appearance on NBC's "Today" show Saturday morning.
"I'm sure people are offended. We hope people are offended by that. That's not what the United States is about," Rubio said.
Later
Saturday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim
civil rights group, said Trump's "rhetoric has crossed the line from
spreading hatred to inciting violence."
"By
directly stating that the only way to stop terrorism is to murder
Muslims in graphic and religiously-offensive ways, he places the
millions of innocent, law-abiding citizens in the American Muslim
community at risk from rogue vigilantes," the group said in a statement.
"He further implies that our nation should adopt a strategy of
systematized violence in its engagement with the global Muslim
community, a chilling message from a potential leader. We pray that no
one who hears this message follows his gospel of hate."
Muslim
Advocates, another Muslim civil rights group, said Trump's comments
"are abhorrent and simply have no place in the American public forum. We
urge all Americans of good conscience to come together and rise above
hate and extremist rhetoric that only serves to divide us at a time when
we must stand together."
Trump strikes reflective tone
Trump's story took place during a rally in which the GOP front-runner reflected on his campaign's unanticipated success.
"This
all began June 16. Who knew this was going to happen? I figured maybe
I'd be in the pack," a subdued Trump said as he began his final rally
before South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, which could hand
Trump his second consecutive electoral victory. "I thought it was going
to be like a horse race. I'd be in the middle of the pack and at the
very end I'd inch it out."
But Trump isn't in the middle of the pack, ready to inch out a victory in South Carolina. He's leading it, with CNN's average of South Carolina polling showing Trump with a double-digit lead over his closest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The victory would be a momentous one for Trump and a blow to several of
his opponents, including Cruz, who has positioned himself as the
conservative capable of rallying the South to capture the nomination.
At
Friday's rally, Trump ripped Cruz as someone "who lies more than any
other human being I have ever seen" and slammed politicians broadly as
"all taken care of by every industry."
And
while Trump touted his 20-point victory just a week earlier in the New
Hampshire primary, he also sought to undercut his supporters' -- and the
media's expectations -- urging them not to look at the polling showing
him poised to clutch a decisive victory, but instead to get out and vote
like they were preparing for a nail-biter.
"Who
knows what the numbers are. The polls are very nice. Who knows? We
can't take a chance," Trump said in comments starkly in contrast with
his predictions of a "tremendous victory" in Iowa the day he ultimately
faltered with a second-place finish.
"It's crunch time, folks. It's crunch time," he reminded the audience.
But
Trump ended the night on a reflective note, reminding his supporters
that they are part of a movement of which he is simply the "messenger"
-- and urging them to get out and vote.
"You're going to say to yourselves this was one of the greatest evenings and one of the great days of your lives," Trump said.
"We're going to make America great again. Thank you, everybody. I love you."
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