Vance doesn’t back away from false claims about migrants in Ohio even amid threats to the community

WASHINGTON —  Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance did not back away on Sunday from the false claims he and Donald Trump have been making that Haitians in an Ohio community are abducting and eating pets, even as the state’s GOP governor and other officials insist there is no evidence of such behavior.

Vance, an Ohio senator, said that 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, wrongly cast the city in a negative light and have brought unwanted and frightening negative attention since Trump mentioned it in the presidential debate last week, when he called out Springfield by name. For two days straight, bomb threats prompted the evacuation of schools and government buildings, with some emailed threats referencing an influx of migrants into the community.

But it wasn’t just Springfield officials who were refuting the claims. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, 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.”

He went on to say: “Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in. These Haitians came in to work for these companies. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.”

Still, the narrative has dominated the Trump’s campaign messaging over the last week and is highlighting how some in the Republican Party are willing to embrace and amplify false claims as part of the inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric that Trump has promoted throughout his campaigns.

“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.”

Roughly 15,000 immigrants have arrived in the last 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 because of endemic gang violence.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, said “the sheriff’s department did go back through the last 11 months, and we just have no verifiable claim that this has actually happened. We have had a complaint. It was looked into. ... I guess they couldn’t call back and reach the person that made the complaint.”

Vance was asked in an interview whether he knew the claims were false.

“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 adding 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.

Long writes for the Associated Press.