Rob Rue, the Republican mayor of Springfield, Ohio, is begging former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to stop spreading lies about his town.
Trump and his running mate have promoted a baseless far-right conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are stealing people's pets to eat them.
"Let me just say at the outset that Springfield is a beautiful community, and your pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio," said Rue. "So,' no, we do not have any credible reports of that. We made that known publicly, and we are asking people to understand the reports we share with them that there's no credible evidence of it."
Read Also: 'I want Vance to apologize': We went to Springfield and found community hurt — and divided
MSNBC host Katy Tur said that it must be difficult to dispel such myths when someone like an ex-president says it on stage to an audience of over 70 million people.
Rue called it "frustrating," noting that they need help in Springfield, "not hate."
"We need people to believe the best about our community, the best about themselves as citizens there."
He also said that what's needed is for those with a national microphone to understand what they're doing in his city.
When asked if he was concerned for the Haitian community, he said that he was worried about his whole city at this point. There are more than Haitian children going to school in Springfield, yet bomb threats were called into the schools there.
Rue also corrected the myth that there were 20,000 Haitian immigrants flooding into his city. He explained the numbers are closer to between 12,000 and 15,000.
See the interview below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be
