Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance recently torched the claims of a reporter who attacked his and former President Trump’s comments about allegations of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets and other local animals. Critics of the Trump-Vance campaign claim there is no evidence of such claims. However, Vance maintained that he hears trustworthy, firsthand accounts from his constituents that suggest otherwise.
A reporter asked the senator from Ohio, “Senator Vance. What do you say to Haitian Americans and Haitian immigrants who say spreading false claims about them put their lives at risk?” Vance replied, “Well, I don’t think that … no one has spread false claims. What they’ve said is that a small migrant community, 20,000, so it’s big for the city of Springfield, but it’s small compared to all Haitians in the United States of America, that that small migrant community has caused a lot of problems.”
Trump’s running mate began citing the various problems reportedly caused by the influx of migrants in the Springfield community, “It’s led to higher rates of communicable diseases. That’s a verifiable fact. It’s led to animals disappearing. Many of my constituents have said that has been happening. It’s led to higher home prices. That is a verifiable fact. So this influx has led to a lot of…” Vance said, before the reporter interrupted, “But you said that immigrants have eaten animals and that, and city officials have said that that’s not true.”
The reporter doubled down, “Springfield city manager said there’s no evidence that immigrants are eating animals. And you have been saying, and Donald Trump just said on stage that they are eating animals,” before Vance firmly asked the reporter to stop interrupting him so he could answer the question that he was presented with.
Vance continued, “The city manager said there’s no verifiable evidence. A lot of residents on the ground have said that there is. That just means the city manager, I think, isn’t fully in touch with what’s going on the ground there. I’ve heard from many of my own constituents who’ve seen these things with their own eyes, who’ve seen these abductions with their own eyes, who’ve seen geese being taken out of local parts and slaughtered in front of their eyes.”
The Ohio senator maintained that he was more inclined to represent the interests of his constituents instead of worrying about making offensive comments to a relatively small group of migrants. “What do I think is a bigger problem insulting 20,000 people, or the fact that my constituents can’t live a good life because Kamala Harris opened the border? I think it’s Kamala Harris needs to do her job,” Vance concluded.
Watch the tense exchange below:
The journalist who spoke to Vance received substantial backlash from critics on social media for downplaying the concerns of the Springfield residents while talking over Vance while he attempted to answer the question he was given.
“Journalism should be about finding the truth. U bully people. Talk over them. Express no curiosity over why Springfield residents are upset. Instead, u express a long-evident animus toward the white poor/working class & focus on one aspect of their concerns to facilitate ur contempt. But when inner-city residents in NYC or Chicago express understandable rage over the impact of mass immigration on their lives, u r in their court. You take it seriously. No need to ask why, ” one person wrote.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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