The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
GOP attacks putting lives of immigrants in danger
MORNING VIEW, Ky. — Donald Trump Jr. went to Northern Kentucky on Saturday to sic the mob on the Haitians.
Speaking at a political rally on a farm owned by disgraced former lawyer and past gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters, Junior lashed out at the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, a city about 100 miles north of the farm that has taken the brunt of MAGA’s xenophobic and racist rage in recent days.
“You saw just this last week in neighboring Ohio, in Springfield, where pets are now being grilled,” Junior said — parroting unsubstantiated claims on the internet — during a five-minute rant against immigrants just three minutes into his 30-minute speech.
This whole thing blew up just over a week ago when Ohio Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, picked up a rumor on the internet claiming Haitian immigrants were stealing family pets, cooking and eating them.
On Tuesday, Trump, himself, flustered as he flailed in his debate against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, did what he does best: He attacked someone weaker than him (if there is anyone weaker than Trump) and he lied.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump bellowed. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
It would be easy to dismiss the whole thing as a bunch of crazy talk by a buffoon and his followers.
Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio, is there legally
But to laugh it off would be to ignore the fact that Trump’s campaign is putting the lives of Haitians and Americans in danger.
Since the debate, there have been bomb threats that forced Springfield schools and municipal buildings to shut down and two hospitals were placed on lockdown. Someone threatened to shoot Haitians on campus at Wittenberg University there.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue has said there are no credible claims that anyone is eating pets, as has Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
None of that matters to the MAGAs. There’s a large Haitian population in Springfield estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000. Most of them are there as part of a federal program that grants “temporary protected status” to immigrants from certain countries, including Haiti, that are facing violence and upheaval.
They are there legally.
While Trump himself has incorrectly called the Haitians living in Springfield “illegal,” during Junior’s speech Saturday in Kentucky he never once referred to them that way.
MAGAs are coming after all immigrants, not just undocumented ones
Whatever they call them, it shows the MAGAs aren’t just coming after undocumented immigrants. They’re coming after all immigrants.
It’s scary. It’s un-American.
During his speech, Junior incorrectly claimed immigrants aren’t being relocated to places where Democrats live — they are — and blamed immigrants for all kinds of problems.
“You notice that they don’t send the migrants to liberal areas, liberal cities,” Junior said. “They only send them to the red states. … Our schools, oversaturated, again, with kids that can’t speak English. That’s terrible but, again your kids should not have to suffer for that. They shouldn’t have to get a disastrous education, not be able to break out of the cycle of poverty.”
Then he went on to attack the media — with a non sequitur — saying reporters would lie to support Harris because …
Well, I’ll let him say it.
“They will tell you anything because they’re not the ones that are going to get a bunch of migrants dumped in their backyard eating their pets. They’re going to live behind their walls with armed guards, and they can do their virtue signaling while America goes to hell in a handbasket while good, hardworking Americans suffer, while you become second-class citizens in your own country. That’s a fact.”
The crowd at the Freedom Fest roared. Thankfully, it was a much smaller crowd than the one that attended the event in 2022, the last time Deters held it. Several thousand people gathered for Saturday’s rally.
“Look at the stats, look at what they get for free. Your taxes, they’re gonna raise them through the roof so that everyone else can come to this country, to pay for them. They may never learn the language, they may be incredibly low IQ, they may come with no skills, it doesn’t matter,” Junior said.
Again, he’s not limiting his attacks to undocumented immigrants.
When he was asked during a press gaggle over the weekend about the threats to Haitians that followed his comments, Donald Trump blamed the Haitians.
“I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats,” Trump the elder said. “I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants and it’s a terrible thing that’s happened. Springfield was a beautiful town, and now they’re going through hell.”
It’s sickening.
We’re better than that.
Furthermore, Trump said he plans to deport immigrants in the country — starting with the Haitians who are in Springfield.
He’s leading the mob Junior was trying to incite in Kentucky.