Donald Trump vowed to start his mass deportations in Springfield, Ohio, after a week of parroting racist right-wing rumors about the city’s population of Haitian immigrants, who are in the country legally.
While speaking about the possibility of making campaign stops in Springfield, where he claims Haitian immigrants are eating their neighbors’ pets, and Aurora, Colorado, where he baselessly claimed a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment building, Trump made a disturbing threat.
“I can say this, we will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio. Large deportations. We’re going to get these people out; we’re bringing them back to Venezuela,” Trump said. Setting aside that the former president can’t seem to keep even his racism straight, Trump’s dangerous promise wasn’t quite finished.
“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country—and we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora.” Trump said.
Trump says his mass deportation will begin with Springfield, Ohio pic.twitter.com/2aCwIo7Pc8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 13, 2024
Ratcheting up his fascist, anti-immigrant rhetoric, Trump painted an enormous target on two vulnerable immigrant communities based on fact-free tales shamelessly elevated by right-wing media and lawmakers. Already, Trump’s fearmongering has directly resulted in bomb threats against Springfield City Hall and local schools.
When one reporter asked Trump why he was still spreading misinformation in spite of statements from Springfield officials who discredited his claims, the former president couldn’t handle it.
“No, no, no. The real threat is what’s happening at our border,” Trump replied, downplaying the severe ramifications of his smear campaign.
