Donald Trump Jr has proven a hereditary ability to incite outrage, comparing Syrian refugees to the sweets known as Skittles.

A graphic posted by Trump Jr to Twitter suggested the risk of accepting Syrian refugees into America was comparable to the risk of eating a handful of Skittles if you knew three in the pack would “kill you”.

“That’s our Syrian refugee problem,” the graphic surmised.

This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016

Although it’s not known whether Trump Jr commissioned the graphic for himself, he praised its sentiment, saying: “This image says it all. Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first”.

The outrage flowed freely online, with many social media users replying with heart-wrenching images of Syrian refugee children.

https://twitter.com/drewharwell/status/778037286730555392

https://twitter.com/rawan/status/778054003448045568

An ‘inappropriate analogy’

Mars Incorporated, the company behind Skittles, released a statement calling the analogy “inappropriate”.

“Refugees are people, not candy,” read the post, which said the company would refrain from commenting further, lest it be “interpreted as marketing”.

Hillary Clinton’s press secretary Nick Merrill referred to the graphic simply as “disgusting”.

This is disgusting. https://t.co/Qygl03Cnc1

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) September 20, 2016

Intake a controversial topic

Trump Jr’s message came as the UN’s first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants took place in New York.

During the summit, leaders committed to addressing the refugee crisis, which has itself been represented by a number of distressing images since the European summer of 2015.

One recent news image showed an injured and confused Syrian child covered in blood and rubble after an airstrike.

Last year, a picture of a deceased Syrian child being carried out of the Mediterranean Sea became a distressing face of the refugee crisis.

The haunting image of a dead Syrian child taken in 2015. Photo: Getty

Over one million refugees have arrived via the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2015, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – almost half of them Syrian.

In September, UNICEF calculated that nearly 50 million people had been displaced during the crisis – more than in any other crisis since World War II.

In response, the Australian government agreed to take an extra 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq in 2015, on top of its annual quota of 18,000.

Recent research by Settlement Services International in Australia found that in the past 12 months, more than 30 per cent of New South Wales’ refugee intake had found work.

Angela Merkel has drawn praise and lost votes over her refugee policy.

The study also found that 70 refugees had started their own businesses, while others were undergoing training and education.

Overseas, Germany has accepted by far the most generous intake of refugees, welcoming over a million in the past year – to the detriment of leader Angela Merkel’s approval ratings.

On Tuesday, Ms Merkel announced she wouldn’t curb the intake, while acknowledging the approvals system had been problematic.

“No one wants this to be repeated, and I don’t either,” she said.

“We have learned from history.”

Criticism …  and plagiarism accusations

Trump Jr wasn’t only copping online hate from those upset at the sentiment of his tweet – he was also accused of copying it.

Outspoken conservative, former Senator Joe Walsh, pointed out that the sentiment looked a lot like a Trumped-up version of a tweet he sent out one month previously.

Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month.

Glad you agree. pic.twitter.com/Nssw6KC1HY

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 20, 2016

Walsh is the same former senator who threatened President Barack Obama with “war” after police officers were killed at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas earlier this year.

He later deleted the tweet.