Pro-Trump Ohio Governor ‘Saddened’ By Campaign’s ‘Verbal Attacks’ On Springfield’s Haitian Community
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine wrote that as a supporter of former President Donald Trump he was “saddened” by the campaign’s “verbal attacks” on the city of Springfield’s Haitian community and denounced the “rhetoric” he said “hurts the city and its people.”
The Republican defended the city, where he was born, in a New York Times editorial on Friday lamenting that it had become “the epicenter of vitriol over America’s immigration policy.”
In recent weeks, despite denials from the city officials and DeWine himself, Trump and running mate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) amplified the bizarre and controversial rumor that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in a bid to attack Vice President Kamala Harris’s immigration record. In the time since, the city has been subjected to dozens of bomb threats that have disrupted everyday life.
In his editorial, DeWine traced the history of Springfield, from prosperity to economic decline of the 1980s and 1990s before praising the Haitian community’s contribution: “Springfield is having a resurgence in manufacturing and job creation. Some of that is thanks to the dramatic influx of Haitian migrants who have arrived in the city over the past three years to fill jobs.”
He added: “They are there legally. They are there to work.”
Pivoting to the conspiracy theory, DeWine, who declared himself a “supporter” of the former president, shared his frustration at Trump and Vance’s decision to “repeat claims that lack evidence.”
As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield. This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there.
The Biden administration’s failure to control the southern border is a very important issue that Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance are talking about and one that the American people are rightfully deeply concerned about. But their verbal attacks against these Haitians — who are legally present in the United States — dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border.
The governor continued to describe the living conditions in Haiti, describing the abject poverty and violence that families who’ve traveled from the country have experienced.
He wrote: “We know that the Haitian people want the same things we all want — a good job, the chance to get a quality education and the ability to raise a family in a safe and secure environment. Haitian migrants have gone to Springfield because of the jobs and chance for a better life there.”
