The kingdom of Agrabah (graphic: Walt Disney Pictures)
Donald Trump’s message of intolerance has drawn millions of supporters to his campaign—even some whose hate runs so deep as to include cartoon characters.
Public Policy Polling added a question to a survey (pdf) it conducted asking Republican primary voters whether they would support bombing Agrabah. Thirty percent of them, and 41% of Trump primary voters, replied that it was a good idea. The trick is that Agrabah’s not a real place, unless you’re an inhabitant of Disney Pictures’ make-believe cartoon universe.
In the 1992 animated movie “Aladdin,” Agrabah is a fictional city that is home to Aladdin, the Genie and other characters. The location is the creation of Disney filmmakers and doesn’t really exist.
“It’s a whole new world,” Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a statement. “Republicans who support carpet bombing also support bombing magic carpets.”
The question’s insertion into the survey was inspired by the “extreme rhetoric” of Republican presidential candidates in the debates and on the campaign trail, according to Public Policy Polling communications specialist Justin Mayhew. “Anything that sounds Arab might make these [respondents] think of people who might associate with terrorism,” he told MTV News. “It also relates to the fear people are feeling and it speaks to the fear that the right is playing to with their campaigns.”
Fifty-four percent of the Republican primary voters surveyed said they think Muslims should be prohibited from entering the United States. That number’s not too surprising, considering that 28% of them—and 41% of Trump supporters—also think that rounding up Americans of Japanese descent and putting them in concentration camps during World War II was a good idea.
-Steve Straehley, Danny Biederman
To Learn More:
Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country from Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead (Public Policy Polling) (pdf)
A Disturbing Number of Voters Support Bombing Aladdin’s (Fictional) Hometown (by Katherine Speller, MTV News)
Trump Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Emboldens Hate Mongers (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov California)
Trump Supporters Make Twice as many Grammar Errors as Fiorina Supporters (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov California)
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