Vance doesn’t back away from claims about migrants in Ohio
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance did not back away on Sunday from the claims that Haitians in an Ohio community are abducting and eating pets, even as the state’s GOP governor and other officials say they have not see evidence of such behavior.
Vance, an Ohio senator, said constituents in Springfield are bringing concerns to him and that at least 10 were “verifiable.” In a series of news show interviews, he said he was amplifying the claims as a way to draw attention to Democrat Kamala Harris’ immigration policies, which he said are lax, while adding, “Everybody who has dealt with a large influx of migration knows that sometimes there are cultural practices that seem very far out there to a lot of Americans.”
Local and state officials have said the claims are untrue.
But it wasn’t just Springfield officials who were refuting the claims. Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said Sunday that “there’s a lot of garbage on the internet and, you know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all.”
Still, narrative has dominated the Trump’s campaign messaging over the past week and is highlighting how some in the Republican Party are willing to embrace and amplify Trump’s claims.
“Whatever some local mayor said about this case, I am hearing from dozens of constituents who are concerned about these issues,” Vance said.
He added: “I think it’s important to say we’re not mad at Haitian migrants wanting to have a better life. We’re angry at Kamala Harris for letting this happen to a small Ohio town, and thank God Donald Trump has called attention to it and would fight back against these policies if the American people.”
Roughly 15,000 immigrants have arrived in the past few years to the predominantly white, blue-collar city of about 60,000 just over an hour west of Columbus.
Springfield also says the Haitian immigrants are in the United States legally under a federal program that allows them to remain in the country temporarily. Last month the Biden administration granted eligibility for temporary legal status to about 300,000 Haitians already in the U.S., citing conditions in Haiti that are considered unsafe for them to return. Haiti’s government has extended a state of emergency to the entire country due to endemic gang violence.
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said, quickly clarifying that he “created the focus that allowed the media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by policies.”
Vance was on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” while DeWine appeared on ”This Week” on ABC.
