Despite openly refuting the Haitian migrant conspiracy that has plagued his state, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine still won’t come down on Donald Trump and J.D. Vance for their part in spreading the violent rhetoric.
After attempting to dodge a direct question on the issue during an interview Monday evening with CNN’s Pamela Brown, DeWine defended the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio—but wouldn’t combat the MAGA leaders.
“But my job, I think, is to reflect exactly what’s going on in Springfield,” DeWine said. “So, the mayor tells us and the chief of police tells us there’s been no evidence at all of anyone eating a dog or any Haitians doing any of that. These Haitians that are there are legal. They work very, very hard. I met this morning with a number of business people who employ these Haitians, and they tell me that they are really essential to them getting the job done.”
When pressed again by Brown to answer the question, DeWine finally fessed up that the town was facing “challenges,” but wouldn’t chalk up any of the blame for the city’s mass closures on the baseless allegations spewed by Trump and Vance.
“Look, I’m not here to place blame,” DeWine said. “I’m here to tell what we’re seeing on the ground. And look, there are challenges. We’ve got 15,000 extra people in a town of about 58,000.”
So far, the epicenter of the conspiracy theory—Springfield—has received at least 33 bomb threats since the top of the conservative ticket started pushing the idea that Haitian immigrants were eating their neighbors’ pets.
Springfield shut down two of its elementary schools Monday, while two local colleges switched to all virtual classes and activities. The city also canceled its annual CultureFest due to safety concerns.
The city saw even more closures last week. Springfield evacuated two elementary schools and closed a middle school on Friday after receiving information from the Springfield Police Division. The day before, several other schools and a significant portion of Springfield’s government facilities—including City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Ohio License Bureau, the Springfield Academy of Excellence, and Fulton Elementary School—were shut down due to bomb threats.
On Sunday, Vance effectively admitted that the anti-immigration conspiracy was bogus.
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance told CNN.
