Donald Trump Junior has reportedly falsely claimed that a woman pictured giving a Nazi salute at a political rally for his father was in fact a Bernie Sanders supporter undercover.
Last night, images from a Chicago rally went viral as they purportedly show an elderly woman with white hair wearing a Trump t-shirt and performing the salute in front of a shocked man. Soon after, Mr Trump Jnr, dismissed the image and stated that the woman was a plant operating on behalf of left wing candidate and potential Presidential rival Mr Sanders in order to stigmatise the Trump campaign.
When one Twitter user tweeted the image to Mr Trump Jnr, with the message: “Here are your Supporters. Simple minded bigots and racists. #hailtrump #idiocracy”, the businessman’s son replied: “Apparently you don’t read the news. She runs Bernie Sander’s women for Bernie site. It’s all staged.”
Mr Trump Jnr also retweeted a tweet which named the woman pictured as a Bernie Sanders supporter called Portia Boulger. He added: “Big surprise. However, the media will never run with this.”
The Chicago Tribune who shared the photograph from the rally say that they have identified the woman in the photograph and that she is not Ms Boulger. Ms Boulger, a Sanders campaign activist, has denied that she is the woman in the photograph and says that she was not in the area at the time that the photo was taken. She posted a photo online showing her full face in a bid to put a stop to the mistaken identity.
However, she says that she has received a number of abusive and graphic messages online after being falsely labelled a Nazi sympathiser or political plant.
Mr Trump Jnr's tweets and retweets which he shared suggesting that Ms Boulger was the woman pictured appear to have since been deleted. However, US politcial website The Daily Beast claims to have captured his messages in a number of screenshots.
Tensions have been increasing at rallies for the Republican nominee hopeful in recent weeks. Protestors claim that they have been violently assaulted or physical removed from rallies and stadiums while protesting peacefully.
Ohio and Florida voters are set to vote on Tuesday. Recent polls indicate that Mr Trump will lead Ohio with 36 per cent support, followed by John Kasich on 34 per cent, Ted Cruz on 17 per cent and Marco Rubio on 8 per cent. In Florida, Mr Trump is expected to win by a substantial margin as he currently has 40 per cent support, followed by Marco Rubio on 26 per cent, Ted Cruz on 18 per cent and John Kasich on 8 per cent.
