Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday condemned as “garbage” former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating dogs and other pets, but he stopped short of directly condemning the former president and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, for spreading the false claims.
“There’s a lot of nonsense on the Internet. You know, this is a piece of nonsense that was just not true. There’s no evidence for it at all,” DeWine said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” when asked if Trump was responsible for spreading the false claims.
When asked what he would say to Trump after he indicated there was no truth to his claims about Haitian immigrants, DeWine condemned hate groups that have marched in Springfield as part of a hate campaign against Haitian immigrants, before praising Haitians as hardworking people who have brought a “positive impact” to the city.
“Hate groups coming to Springfield, we don’t need these hate groups,” he said. “I saw a piece of literature yesterday that the mayor told me about, supposedly from the KKK. Springfield is a good city. They’re good people. They welcome people. We have challenges every day. We’re working on those challenges.”
“Haitians are — culturally, my wife Fran and I saw this when we were in Haiti — education is valued,” he added. “So when you look at all of these things, people who want to work, people who value their children, who value education, you know, these are positive influences on our community in Springfield, and any comment about that is different, I think, hurtful and not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield.”
Recent bomb threats in Springfield led to the closure of schools and municipal buildings last week. The city has faced widespread criticism over false rumors about Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets.
Asked whether there was a connection between the bomb threats and the unsubstantiated claims Trump and Vance are spreading online, DeWine called for an end to discussions about those claims. He did not, however, directly criticize Trump or Vance for stoking right-wing conspiracy theories.
“I think these discussions about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things need to stop,” he said. “We need to focus on what’s important. What’s important is that we give everyone in a rapidly growing city access to primary health care, that we do other things related to housing. These are kind of the basic things that we need to do. We need to focus on those things and not on these.”
DeWine noted that many Haitian immigrants to Springfield came there legally through federal programs as refugees fleeing political unrest in their country and have contributed to the state’s economy as workers.
“This discussion about Haitians eating dogs is just not helpful,” he said. “And again, these people are here legally. They’re here legally, and they want to work, and they work. And when you talk to employers, employers tell you, we don’t know what we would do without them. They work, and they work very hard.”
However, DeWine stood by his support for Trump when asked if his support for the former president had waned because of his false claims.
“I said before we knew who the nominee was going to be, I would support the Republican presidential nominee,” he said. “I’m a Republican. I think when you look at the economic issues, and these are issues that I think the American people are most concerned about, I think Donald Trump is the best choice.”
Trump made the unsubstantiated claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last week. He argued that Springfield is an example of the harmful effects of immigration as a result of Harris’ immigration policies.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue has strongly criticized the false claims and called on the public, and particularly prominent public figures, to stop spreading the claims.
“Springfield is a beautiful community and your pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio,” Rue told MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports” last week. “We’ve made that public and we ask people to understand and believe the reports that we share with them.”
“We need people who have a national platform, who have a microphone, with millions and millions (of followers), we need them to understand what their words are doing to cities like Springfield, Ohio,” he added. “What we need is help. We don’t need this misinformation.”
Vance on Sunday pushed back against claims that an online conspiracy story about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets is false, saying he had heard voters’ concerns about the issue.
“I hear you say they are baseless, but I won’t repeat them because I made them up out of thin air,” Vance said during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet The Press.”
Trump’s running mate echoed those comments later Sunday in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying, “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.”
When asked for clarification, Vance reiterated that he had heard firsthand accounts from his constituents.
“I’m saying we’re creating a narrative, which means we’re creating the American media that focuses on it,” he said on CNN.
Vance, in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” also dismissed comments from local officials urging him not to spread the false claims targeting Haitian immigrants in Springfield.
When asked what he has done to help DeWine with his request for federal aid as the influx of thousands of migrants in recent years has strained the state’s health care system, Vance sought to blame Harris, whom Biden tasked in 2021 with addressing the root causes of migration at the southern border, for her policies.
“Well, the single most important thing we can do to help Governor DeWine and the entire state of Ohio, and frankly the entire country, Margaret, is to stop Kamala Harris’ open border,” he said. “And for two years, I’ve been fighting for policies that do just that.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
