Bernie Moreno, Ohio’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, unleashed a bigoted tirade attacking many of his own voters during his latest appearance on Newsmax. Moreno, who is locked in what is expected to be a close race against Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent, appears to be more than a little anxious as Election Day approaches — and is resorting to underhanded tactics as a result.
In the interview, Moreno claimed that the so-called Haitian immigrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio — about which Republicans have repeatedly lied — is “100% real.”
This is despite the fact that Republican Party vice presidential candidate and Ohio senator J.D. Vance essentially admitted that the racist claims he helped spread about Haitian immigrants eating pets were untrue when he said he was willing to tell stories to invent for media attention; the fact that both the Republican mayor of Springfield and the Republican governor of Ohio have debunked these claims; and the fact that Governor Mike DeWine has praised Haitian immigrants for boosting Springfield’s economy.
You can read more about how Haitians have helped fuel Springfield’s economic growth here.
Moreno’s tirade continued to blame immigrants for Springfield’s woes:
They are absolutely overwhelming the schools and the hospitals. …The education system there is a mess. The grocery stores are overwhelmed because we’re putting all these Haitians on food stamps – welfare programs. They have seen the cost of housing rise, and the cost of insurance.
Moreno, as you might imagine, has provided no evidence for these claims. NBC News published an article quoting economists who particularly muddled the housing claim. But all of this may sound poignant to someone who is easily outraged by the thought of black people moving to the U.S. from other countries.
Moreno’s stories give the impression that there are Haitian immigrants in Springfield, many of whom are in the United States legal — have brought the city into misery, instead of encouraging its revival. But what else can we expect from someone who wants to join the outraged hucksters of the Republican Party in the Senate?
With less than three weeks until Election Day, Republicans are ramping up racist anti-immigrant rhetoric. And in their respective races, Moreno – and Vance – are proving that these Republicans have no qualms about throwing some of their own voters under the bus.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
