On Migrant Lies, JD Vance Admits The Quiet Part Out Loud
On CNN, Vance admitted that he 'created' Haitian migrant lies as a tool for attention, exposing the Trump Campaign's dehumanizing disinformation tactics sourced straight from historic authoritarians.
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Since Donald Trump and his running mate Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) began spreading lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, last week, there have been bomb threats causing hospitals, government buildings, and schools to go into lockdown.
There is a real fear in the Haitian community, and it’s all because of the dehumanizing disinformation campaign Trump and Vance have spearheaded.
This past weekend, J.D. Vance essentially admitted that he’s been using these fabricated stories as a political tool in his amoral pursuit of power.
In an interview that aired on Sunday morning, CNN Anchor Dana Bash questioned J.D. Vance on his lies targeting Haitian immigrants. Bash didn’t mince words in her opening question.
“So the mayor of Springfield, Ohio, Rob Rue, said, ‘All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they're hurting our city, and it was their words that did it.’ Before Donald Trump talked about eating dogs and cats on a debate stage, it was you, Senator, who first elevated this baseless rumor. These are your constituents,” Bash pointed out. “So, why are you putting them at risk by continuing to spread claims about Haitian immigrants despite officials in your state saying that there's no evidence and pleading for you to stop?”
J.D. Vance spent several minutes shamelessly deflecting and trying to justify the claims, then Vance said the quiet part out loud: “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, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.”
You read that right. J.D. Vance explicitly acknowledged that he’s using anti-immigrant disinformation as a tool for attention. Vance tried to later clarify that he meant he was “creating stories” about the issue of immigration, but I think he meant what he said the first time.
Vance accidentally exposed the Trump Campaign's dehumanizing disinformation tactics. Simply put, the Trump Campaign is knowingly exploiting migrant lies to try and fearmonger their way into office and to justify cruel, dehumanizing policies. This is all very clearly an intentional disinformation campaign based on historic authoritarian playbooks.
Before we dissect this authoritarian tactic in more detail, I first have to outline exactly how dishonest these claims about Haitian migrants are.
Every official, from Springfield to statewide office in Ohio, has debunked these claims. Even the woman who was responsible for the original Facebook rumor that sparked this disinformation campaign said she regrets it, telling NBC News, “It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen… I feel for the Haitian community.”
Local police and officials have all said there is zero evidence of any Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue called out those spreading these lies and told Politico about the consequences they’re having in his city:
“Any political leader that takes the national stage and has the national spotlight needs to understand the gravity of the words that they have for cities like ours, and what they say impacts our city. And we’ve had bomb threats the last two days. We’ve had personal threats the last two days, and it’s increasing, because the national stage is swirling this up. Springfield, Ohio, is caught in a political vortex, and it is a bit out of control. We are a wonderful city — a beautiful town. And for what it’s worth, your pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio.”
Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine went even further in an appearance on ABC News, directly attacking the lie and making sure to elevate the important contributions Haitian migrants have made to Springfield:
“Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work… What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.
There's a lot of garbage on the internet and this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true, there's no evidence of this at all. These are positive influences on our community in Springfield and any comment about that otherwise I think is hurtful and is not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield."
Governor DeWine is right. Haitian migrants in Springfield are there legally under Temporary Protected Status and have been filling key labor shortages and boosting Springfield’s economy. It’s not been without challenges, but Haitian immigrants are still a net positive for Springfield.
Now that we’ve established just how big a lie Trump and Vance have been telling, let’s break this authoritarian disinformation tactic down.
Dehumanization As A Political Tactic
Trump and Vance’s Haitian migrant lies are just the latest in a decade-long MAGA dehumanization campaign targeting immigrants.
As I’ve written about extensively in this newsletter, the dehumanization of immigrants has always been Donald Trump’s central tactic. Since Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015 by calling Mexican immigrants rapists, he has constantly conflated law-abiding, asylum-seeking migrants with criminals and has gone as far as to call them animals who are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
It was in May 2018 when Trump first called undocumented immigrants who were gang members “animals.” This is important because it coincided with his administration issuing its zero-tolerance policy. This policy systemically separated migrant families at the border.
Trump and Vance’s lies are a classic authoritarian tactic. As with Trump’s family separation policy and historic autocrats before him, dehumanizing rhetoric always preludes and seeks to justify dehumanizing policies.
Scapegoating the “other” in a bid to consolidate power can be seen in regime after regime, most notably in Hitler’s Nazi Germany. This tactic is not only being used as a fear-mongering maneuver to gain power. It’s seeking to lay the groundwork and garner public support for the absolute depravity Trump plans to unleash on immigrants if he wins re-election.
As we know, as outlined directly in Trump’s Agenda 47 and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, Trump has clearly indicated he will seek to give himself unchecked power if he returns to office so he can target his political opponents, who he’s called “vermin,” and unleash police and military on immigrants.
Trump has made it clear he believes non-white immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promises he’ll jail his opponents. As I broke down in my video last week, Trump is planning the largest mass arrests in American history by targeting his political opponents and over 10 million undocumented immigrants - apparently including some legal migrants since he continues to falsely call them “illegal.”
Trump has explicitly promised to detain millions of immigrants in camps using local police and the National Guard, implement ideological screenings, end birthright citizenship, end student visas for people participating in pro-Palestine protests, and expand on his previous administration’s Mulsim ban. These are the kinds of policies Trump’s rhetoric is seeking to justify.
Trump’s migrant disinformation is also a pretty loud dog whistle to the white supremacist extremists who back him.
In the first debate of the 2020 election, Trump infamously told the neo-Nazi Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” The Proud Boys celebrated and stood at the ready, later aiding Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election on January 6. Now, he's once again sending cues to extremists.
At last week’s debate, Trump sent another signal as he stood on the debate stage with Kamala Harris, this time defending January 6 rioters and spreading dehumanizing racist lies about Haitian migrants - which neo-Nazi extremist groups have been championing. Once again, Trump is activating white supremacist extremists with his lies and giving credence to the white supremacist Great Replacement Theory.
As sloppy and unfocused as Trump and Vance’s 2024 campaign is, one thing they’ve been consistent on is their depraved targeting of immigrants with dangerous lies.
Americans should not elect admitted liars who openly promise to use those lies as a means to justify their planned exploitation of power to commit atrocities against our fellow human beings.
I’m always glad to read your take on the latest atrocity. And it is also good to have the video you prepared previously giving us a visual and your actual voice. Human connection—almost in person.