J.D. Vance Tried to See if Pet-Eating Rumor Was True—After Posting It
It turns out that J.D. Vance and the Trump campaign can only point to one already debunked case as proof of their false and racist conspiracy about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.The Wall Street Journal reports that one of Vance’s staffers reached out to Springfield, Ohio’s city manager, Bryan Heck, on September 9, one day before the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The staffer wanted to know if there was any truth behind rumors that Haitian Americans were capturing and eating pets, ducks, and geese in the town. By that time, Vance had already shared the conspiracy theory online.Heck told the staffer that there was no “verifiable evidence or reports” and that the “claims were baseless.” But that didn’t stop Trump from repeating the false story at the debate, and Vance continued to spread the rumor even as his home state suffered the consequences. In an attempt to back up the rumor, Vance’s campaign provided a police report to the Journal in which a Springfield resident, Anna Kilgore, said that her cat was possibly taken by her Haitian neighbors. When a reporter went to the woman’s home last week, she said her cat came home only two days after she reported it missing, and was found safe in her basement. Kilgore, a Trump supporter, said that she apologized to her neighbors with a translation app and her daughter’s help. Another Springfield resident who spurred on the rumor in a Facebook post has also admitted that she was wrong, and took down the post, according to The New York Times. Vance, meanwhile, has not apologized, instead trying to blame the media.The Republican vice presidential nominee somehow sees a political advantage in pushing the debunked and racist story, even as it has resulted in violent threats against the town’s schools, hospitals, and government buildings. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has denounced the story but refused to blame Trump or Vance, but Springfield Mayor Rob Rue doesn’t want Trump anywhere near his town. Considering the threats, and the part that neo-Nazis have played in creating this problem, it’s easy to see why.
It turns out that J.D. Vance and the Trump campaign can only point to one already debunked case as proof of their false and racist conspiracy about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
The Wall Street Journal reports that one of Vance’s staffers reached out to Springfield, Ohio’s city manager, Bryan Heck, on September 9, one day before the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The staffer wanted to know if there was any truth behind rumors that Haitian Americans were capturing and eating pets, ducks, and geese in the town. By that time, Vance had already shared the conspiracy theory online.
Heck told the staffer that there was no “verifiable evidence or reports” and that the “claims were baseless.” But that didn’t stop Trump from repeating the false story at the debate, and Vance continued to spread the rumor even as his home state suffered the consequences.
In an attempt to back up the rumor, Vance’s campaign provided a police report to the Journal in which a Springfield resident, Anna Kilgore, said that her cat was possibly taken by her Haitian neighbors. When a reporter went to the woman’s home last week, she said her cat came home only two days after she reported it missing, and was found safe in her basement.
Kilgore, a Trump supporter, said that she apologized to her neighbors with a translation app and her daughter’s help. Another Springfield resident who spurred on the rumor in a Facebook post has also admitted that she was wrong, and took down the post, according to The New York Times. Vance, meanwhile, has not apologized, instead trying to blame the media.
The Republican vice presidential nominee somehow sees a political advantage in pushing the debunked and racist story, even as it has resulted in violent threats against the town’s schools, hospitals, and government buildings. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has denounced the story but refused to blame Trump or Vance, but Springfield Mayor Rob Rue doesn’t want Trump anywhere near his town. Considering the threats, and the part that neo-Nazis have played in creating this problem, it’s easy to see why.
