Former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance — the GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees, respectively — are continuing to push racist lies about Haitian immigrants in Ohio, despite being told by city officials and residents that the claims are patently false.
Vance shared the lies vilifying Haitian immigrants in the city of Springfield, Ohio, on social media earlier this month. Shortly after he elevated the claims, a staffer for the senator made a call to Bryan Heck, Springfield’s city manager, to verify whether or not they were true.
The city manager told The Wall Street Journal that he explicitly debunked the claims in his conversation with the staffer.
“He asked point-blank, ‘Are the rumors true?'” Heck said. “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless.”
Despite Heck telling Vance’s staffer that the claims had no veracity whatsoever, the vice presidential nominee has continued to push the lies.
When The Wall Street Journal reached out to Vance’s campaign team to ask why he is continuing to spread the falsehoods, a spokesperson provided the publication with a transcript of an August 911 call in Springfield from a woman reporting a missing pet, insinuating that the complaint might indicate that Vance’s claims are true. In fact, the woman who made that call later found the pet in her basement, and has since directly apologized to Haitian immigrants in the city for her role in spreading the lies.
That hasn’t stopped Vance from advancing the lies, however. When asked by reporters at a campaign event in Wisconsin this week why he was promulgating the lies even after they were debunked, Vance said it was his duty to “listen to [his] constituents” on the issue, ignoring the fact that most of his constituents know the claims are false.
Vance then said it wasn’t his responsibility to verify his constituents’ false statements but rather that “the media has a responsibility to fact-check” — which the media has done, only for Vance to continue attacking Haitian immigrants in Springfield.
Trump also spread the lies about Haitian immigrants, amplifying the claims to a national audience during his September 10 debate with Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris.
Since that debate, the city has received dozens of bomb threats, including against government buildings, K-12 schools, and hospitals. Haitian immigrants have also been the victims of harassment as a result of the racist lies.
The Trump campaign has indicated that they will continue their smear campaign against immigrants in the city, with Trump vowing to hold a campaign event in Springfield in the near future. Mayor Rob Rue is asking Trump not to come to the city, as the lies have had costly repercussions for Springfield.
“It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So it’d be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit,” Rue said.
Urgent! Deadline tonight at midnight
Truthout is conducting a crucial fundraising campaign to support our work. We have until midnight tonight to raise $14,000.
Every single day, our team is reporting deeply on complex political issues: revealing wrongdoing in our so-called justice system, tracking global attacks on human rights, unmasking the money behind right-wing movements, and more. Your donation at this moment is critical, allowing us to do this core journalistic work.
Help safeguard what’s left of our democracy. Please make a tax-deductible gift before time runs out.