JD Vance Justifies Spreading Debunked Conspiracy Against Haitians In Ohio

The GOP vice presidential candidate admitted that he consciously decided to "create stories" about the racist lie so that American media focuses on it.

Sen. JD Vance (R) repeatedly justified on Sunday spreading the widely debunked racist lie that Haitian immigrants are stealing local pets for food in Springfield, Ohio ― at one point admitting that he consciously decided to “create stories” about the unsubstantiated issue so that American media pays more attention to it.

The Republican vice presidential candidate faced aggressive fact-checking while appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” related to fearmongering by the senator and former President Donald Trump over the city’s increased Haitian population.

“Clearly these rumors are out there because constituents are seeing it with their own eyes, and some of them are talking about it,” Vance told NBC’s Kristen Welker, repeating his claim that the so-called evidence to support the conspiracy theory comes from 911 calls he says he’s received from Springfield residents who are presumably not immigrants. He has also suggested that Springfield’s immigrants are spreading disease and contributing to rising crime ― unsubstantiated claims that historically have contributed to the dehumanization of immigrants.

On Sunday, CNN’s Dana Bash corrected Vance by saying the Clark County sheriff and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources scoured through 11 months of 911 calls and only found two instances where residents alleged Haitians were stealing geese from parks. Neither instance was found to be substantiated, though the vice presidential candidate continued to amplify the claim.

In fact, local officials have touted industrial Springfield as a city undergoing revitalization thanks to the roughly 20,000 mostly legal Haitian immigrants who have settled there over the past few years and contributed to the economy. Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine even pledged $2.5 million to the city to help increase available resources so that Springfield can better accommodate the population surge, and police quickly debunked the racist rumors.