‘Brutal fact-check’: J.D. Vance throws tantrum after failed attempt to smear immigrants some more

J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are committed to spreading the fear-mongering claim that Haitian immigrants are “eating pets” in Springfield, Ohio. They’re so adamant about this stance that both of them get offended when they’re fact-checked by journalists.

It looks like Vance is Trump’s perfect running mate, since he’s just as averse to accountability as Trump. Staying consistent with Trump’s rhetoric, Vance told Dana Bash from CNN that his constituents are telling him firsthand that they’re “seeing these things” in reference to Haitian immigrants eating pets. He added that he can “ignore them, which the American media has done for years. Or I can talk about what people are telling me.”

He claims that these concerns from the public are “verifiable.”

Bash confronted Vance about these claims: “First of all, the Clark County Sheriff and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources reviewed eleven months of 9-11 calls. They only identified two incidents of people alleging Haitians taking geese out of parks. They found zero evidence to substantiate those claims.”

Bash added that the other evidence Vance brought up consisted of “unsourced social media videos” from a different city that don’t concern Haitians. Instead of countering her points readily with his so-called “verifiable” evidence, Vance said that Bash’s claims were “more appropriate for Democratic propagandists than for an American journalist.”

Wow, talk about extreme.

Questionable sources

For politicians like Vance, perception is real—the truth isn’t. The repercussions of his claims don’t matter to Vance, who sees elections as a game of numbers. Vance, as the Senator of Ohio, will put out generic statements about “caring for his constituents.” In the same breath, he fails to defend immigrants who’ve made their homes in Springfield because he doesn’t consider them as his own constituents.

While this kind of xenophobia is horrible and racist no matter the immigration status of its targets, it’s worth noting that The New York Times reports, “Most Haitians in Springfield are in the United States legally, city officials said.” That’s the part conservatives are always trying to hide with their complaints about “illegal” immigrants: They just don’t want some immigrants here at all, regardless of the law or citizenship status, and they’re not shy about “othering” whoever they don’t like, even if those people have a legal right to be here.

He obviously denied any accountability for the immediate damage that his and Trump’s story caused. Not only have they effectively created a racial stereotype about an ethnic group, but their words have incited bomb threats on several government buildings, schools, and hospitals in Springfield. They can both keep denying responsibility for the weight of their words, but they’ve been repeatedly fact-checked by both journalists and city officials.

There is no muddying the waters anymore, even if Vance and Trump continue to peddle the lie about these Haitian immigrants. It doesn’t matter if Vance discredits the media, because city officials have corroborated the story. Vance’s reaction to getting corrected by Bash raises concerns over his credibility. After all, there’s no reason to vote for a candidate who doesn’t operate on facts.