Known for his absurd and often factually incorrect statements, the front-runner for becoming the Republicanq presidential candidate Donald Trump has now misquoted Mahatma Gandhi in one of his Instagram posts.
The post by the leader carried a quote which read “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”, and attributed it to Mahatma Gandhi, except there is no evidence that the non-violence proponent ever said that.
The Instagram post with a picture of supporters rallying around Trump sparked off a social media outrage as a top political website called The Hill said, “There’s no record that Gandhi ever used the phrase, which has been widely attributed to him.”
That Gandhi quote Trump used to compare to himself? Likely bogus: https://t.co/WF3K9zrh3r via @GregJKrieg
— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) February 29, 2016
It was only a matter of time… Republican Presidential Front Runner Donald Trump ‘Misquotes’ Mahatma Gandhi https://t.co/nRkTJYfcWA
— Rishi Suri (@rishi_suri) March 1, 2016
The quote, which came after Trump came under fire for re-tweeting former fascist leader Benito Mussolini, has been listed among top 10 political misquotes by Christian Science Monitor and appeared in a 1918 trade union address by socialist leader Nicholas Klein.
Always a good sign when the Republican front runner @realDonaldTrump retweets Mussolini (@ilduce2016 ). #SempreAvantiAmerica!”
— Warren Leight (@warrenleightTV) February 28, 2016
Although Trump is the front runner for becoming the republican presidential candidate, it is hard to tell if him comparing himself to Gandhi is more absurd or the quote he wrongly attributed to the leader.