Doug Ford's daughter shares anti-vaccine meme with racist origins
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s daughter, Krista Ford Haynes, has posted another concerning and inaccurate anti-vaccine meme on Instagram featuring an image of jelly beans.
This time there’s an additional problematic layer because the candy picture and phrasing harken back to a racist image shared by Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr. during his 2020 election campaign.
On Monday, Ford Haynes shared the image of a bowl of jelly beans, asking her followers if they’d like one, given that a certain number could kill them or leave them with a life-changing condition.
It appears the jelly beans were meant to be an analogy for the vaccines (even though the likelihood of harm sounds more like a COVID-19 infection).
Krista Haynes (née Ford @fordnation) is running an IG poll based on this extremely faulty analogy.
I can’t even determine if jellybeans are supposed to represent COVID or the vaccines. Or both?
My head hurts. Must be the jab!!!#cdnpoli #antivaxxers #Qrista pic.twitter.com/YpaVz8JXww
— Caryma Sa’d – Lawyer + Political Commentator (@CarymaRules) January 10, 2022
In reality, adverse events following vaccination are extremely rare. Ontario reported approximately 3.5 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis per million second doses administered in June 2021.
Ford Haynes is well known for going on anti-vaccine and anti-mask tirades on Instagram, and her husband was recently suspended from the Toronto Police Service for not being vaccinated.
On Monday, her jelly bean meme bore a similarity to an image of skittles shared by Donald Trump Jr. back in 2020 — suggesting that each Skittle was a Syrian refugee but that three would kill someone.
Huh I wonder where they got the idea for that meme pic.twitter.com/wYFi3I8Mhc
— Ian (@Ian_from_TO) January 10, 2022
The meme was widely criticized as racist, and Skittles’ parent company issued a statement denouncing Trump’s analogy.
“Skittles are candy; refugees are people,” Mars Inc. said.
— Mars, Incorporated (@MarsGlobal) September 20, 2016
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