Spirit of America is better than the lies and racism spread by Trump

Scapegoating immigrants for society’s ills is nothing new for Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance or their MAGA supporters. Historically, such rhetoric has included accusations of immigrants being rapists, murderers and “poisoning the blood of the nation.” However, last week, Trump and Vance’s racist rhetoric reached new lows with their outrageous claim that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets, including dogs, cats, ducks and other animals. Some in MAGA world are even saying immigrants might be cannibals and Trump himself has suggested as much. These latest “pets as food” accusations are not only a blatant fabrication but also perpetuate tropes about the millions of hardworking immigrants who call the United States home.

The disturbing narrative began when Vance shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) that featured an unhinged individual making unsubstantiated claims at a Springfield, Ohio, city council meeting. The situation escalated when Springfield Mayor Rob Rue held a press conference to debunk the claim. They unequivocally stated that there were no verified reports of immigrants kidnapping or eating pets. Despite this, Trump repeated the unfounded allegation for more than 67 million viewers of Tuesday night’s presidential debate, asserting that immigrants were consuming pets in Springfield and using this lie to paint a grim picture of immigration’s impact on American society.

The ramifications were immediate, as schools and government offices in Springfield became inundated with threatening phone calls, including bomb threats that led to the closure of two schools within the city.

Instead of denouncing the threats and walking back his anti-immigrant statements, Trump doubled down and expanded on the lie, telling a rally in Arizona on Thursday the lies that the influx of migrants in Ohio had led to a surge in Medicaid and food assistance program enrollments, and even claimed that immigrants were stealing town geese. Actual data shows that not only are emergency responders not receiving credible reports of stolen pets or geese missing from parks, but Ohio’s Medicaid program has experienced a nearly 10% decrease in enrollment over the past 18 months. Trump’s willingness to fabricate and manipulate statistics underscores his broader strategy of exploiting fear and prejudice for political gain.

In addition, Trump is lying by omission by suggesting the Haitians are there illegally. The Haitians in Springfield are there legally after being allowed to enter after natural disaster and the collapse of social order in the island nation. Local businesses report that they are splendid employees and that they are happy to have them.

The racism embedded in these allegations is glaring. By targeting Haitian immigrants, Trump and Vance exploit long-standing racial prejudices and xenophobic stereotypes. Haiti, a predominantly Black nation, has historically faced discrimination and has been the victim of multiple severe natural disasters in recent years. Rather than recognizing the humanity of Haitians trying to escape such pervasive suffering, the leaders of the Republican Party are tapping into deeply ingrained biases and fears, and stoking racial and ethnic tensions.

Trump embraces the racism fully. Indeed, he reposted on Truth Social an AI-generated image of him shielding animals from a raging mob of Black people, effectively positioning himself as not only the Great White Hero, but as a protector of all animals great and small. That is quite a feat from a man famous for loathing pets, yet unsurprising for someone who has embraced racism throughout his life.

There is another reason Trump wants to talk about Black people eating Fluffy. Recently, Trumpworld and its unofficial promoter, Tucker Carlson, have been promoting the views of Darryl Cooper, a Holocaust denier. When given the opportunity, Vance refused to denounce Carlson for providing a platform for such views. In other words, MAGAland is using racism against Black people to hide the virulent antisemitism flowing through the movement. Meanwhile, surfacing fears of Black people serves their purposes to cast doubts on an opponent who happens to be Black.

Moreover, the nature of the allegations — accusing immigrants of eating pets — plays into visceral fears, prejudices and stereotypes that have haunted non-white communities for generations. This type of conspiracy theory is designed to provoke outrage and fear, creating a sense of threat to the family and painting a picture of immigrants as not only foreign but also inherently dangerous and uncivilized. This strategy is a classic example of how fearmongering can be used to undermine social cohesion and justify discriminatory policies.

The spread of these conspiratorial claims also has significant real-world consequences. Such rhetoric contributes to a climate of intolerance and hostility, legitimizes hate speech and violence, and makes it more difficult for immigrant communities to integrate and thrive.

Additionally, the spread of false information undermines public trust in democratic institutions and the media. This serves Trump’s and Vance’s broader political strategy of undermining faith in democratic institutions and serves to distract from Trump’s ongoing criminal indictments and failures during his first term in office. By focusing public attention on outrageous and unfounded claims, they divert scrutiny away from more pressing concerns, such as economic policies, health care and education.

But beyond the hatred and the bigotry, there’s this: These lies are simply nuts, and they don’t care. All they want is to spread panic in hopes that the news cycle focuses on them rather than have anyone focus on their opponent, Kamala Harris, who is talking about a future for our country at positively gigantic rallies. So, you have a pair of malicious children in suits throwing matches into the wastebasket vs. someone imagining a world where we focus on making life better. Which would we prefer for our leaders?

For Trump, this is all about spreading hate and attracting the gaze of an extra camera. And if a Haitian second-grader gets beaten after school in Ohio or a Haitian family is burned out of their house, that’s just tough luck. To Trump they had it coming because … they were Black?

Unfortunately, this type of violence and rhetoric is part of the American story — many other immigrant groups have been targeted in our past. However, it’s not part of the big American heart that always finds a place for good people in need. We should reject this type of hateful rhetoric and embrace the diverse array of people who help this country thrive.