DONALD TRUMP has sparked further controversy after reciting the controversial poem The Snake during a campaign rally.
It’s not the first time the President has read out the poem.
It featured prominently during his 2016 election campaign and has been read out on several occasions since Trump took office.
However, the true meaning of the poem appears to have been lost on the President.
To Trump, The Snake serves as a cautionary tale of the potential dangers posed by illegal immigrants.
The lyrics describe the story of a woman who takes a snake into her home after discovering it freezing to death outside her home.
Things take a turn for the worse, however, when after nursing the snake back to health, the serpent bites her, infecting the woman with a deadly poison in the process.
Asking the snake why he tricked her, the reptile replies that the “silly woman” knew “damn well” what it was when she took it in.
While the supposed anti-immigration message at the heart of the Trump administration, which includes a crackdown on undocumented Irish in the US – it would appear that the true meaning of the poem has been lost in translation.
The Snake actually started life as a song recorded by soul singer Al Wilson in 1968.
More significantly still, it was actually penned by a noted civil rights activist, Oscar Brown who wrote it as a "celebration of black culture and a repudiation of racism".
In fact, Trump has been warned by two of Brown’s surviving children to stop using the song to “demonise immigrants”.
Brown’s family hit out at the President in a previous statement accusing him of “perversely” using the ong, adding that the writer "never had anything against immigrants".
Trump reads the xenophobic "The Snake" poem for the first time during a rally this election cycle pic.twitter.com/3CNBDioG1a
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 2, 2020
Despite issuing a cease and desist letter, Trump has continued reciting the lyrics at rallies.
The Snake can be read in full below:
On her way to work one morning
Down the path alongside the lake
A tender-hearted woman saw a poor half-frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
“Oh well,” she cried, “I'll take you in and I'll take care of you”
“Take me in oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake
She wrapped him up all cozy in a curvature of silk
And then laid him by the fireside with some honey and some milk
Now she hurried home from work that night as soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she'd taken in had been revived
“Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake
Now she clutched him to her bosom, “You're so beautiful,” she cried
“But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died”
Now she stroked his pretty skin and then she kissed and held him tight
But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
“Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake
“I saved you,” cried that woman
“And you've bit me even, why?
You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die”
“Oh shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin
“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in
”Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman,“ sighed the snake
