Has Donald Trump finally gone too far?
That's the question political pundits are asking after the billionaire presidential candidate slaughtered a Muslim child on-stage during a rally in Fort Lauderdale today.
"We got a big problem in this country with Muslims," he told the crowd. "A big problem."
"Now let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take the first-born child of every Muslim in this country. We're going to sacrifice them publically."
Trump's security detail then brought out a young teenager, handcuffed and with duct tape around his mouth.
"This is Hassem Hassim from Pompano Beach," Trump explained. "I had my people pick him up on the way over here. Now what do you think? He kinda looks like a terrorist, right? Probably a terrorist.
"What do you thing? Do you think I should kill this kid right now?"
The crowd erupted with multiple cries of "kill him", "slit his throat" and then descended into repeated chants of "Die Muslims die. Die Muslims die."
Trump then brandished a machete and proceeded to slash Hassim's throat, rupturing his artery. As the body fell to the stage, the crowd cheered ecstatically and chanted "U-S-A, U-S-A".
"Now that's how we're going to defeat ISIS," Trump boasted, his hands covered in blood. "They kill one of ours, we kill one of theirs."
Hassim - who slowly bled to death as the rally continued - was a 14-year old honor student from Pompano Beach High School. He was an All-State basketball player, chairman of the debate team, and hoped to attend Florida State to study organic chemistry.
Trump's violence has experts wondering if perhaps he has finally done something that might sink his poll numbers However, a poll conducted after the event show that 57% of Republican primary voters in Florida agree with Trump's decision to summarily execute a Muslim-American teenager.
And Trump himself has disputed the notion that the ploy will cost him at the ballot box.
"We're going to win the Muslim vote," he told reporters afterward. "Everybody loves a little violence - the Muslims more than anybody. And you have to give the people what they want."
Meanwhile, CNN president Jeff Zucker defended his decision to carry the execution live, saying "it was ratings gold".
