Donald Trump and JD Vance’s brazen lies about the Haitian community have wreaked havoc in the small Ohio city of Springfield. In the aftermath of the slander about immigrants eating cats and dogs, residents’ lives have been disrupted by bomb threats, hospital lockdowns, school and office closures, and lampposts covered with fliers from the KKK and neo-Nazi groups like Aryan Freedom Network. People fear for their security on the streets, and some Haitian residents are considering relocating to safer communities.

Vance refused to walk back his and Trump’s lies which have been completely debunked by city officials and by journalists searching for evidence. On Sunday morning in an interview Vance admitted with a condescending smirk that he had to “create stories” because otherwise, the media wouldn’t pay enough attention to his and Trump’s rants against immigrants.

One of the stories Vance “created” was that 11-year-old Aiden Clark was “murdered by a Haitian immigrant.” As Aiden’s father Nathan told a meeting of the Springfield City Commission, “Aiden was not murdered.” Aiden died in a tragic accident when the school bus he was riding in collided with a car driven by a Haitian migrant. Despite Nathan Clark’s impassioned plea to “immoral politicians” who use his son’s name to spread hate, Vance callously refused to apologize to the distressed father.

Trump would come for Haitian and Latino immigrants first – he has promised to start by deporting all the Haitians of Springfield – and he’ll come for the rest of us in turn.

As the lies ramped up this week, it was revealed that the focus on Haitians in Springfield was a racist idea adopted straight from a neo-Nazi group called the Blood Tribe, which took credit after the debate for their direct influence on Trump. This episode foreshadows how dangerous a second Trump administration would be. Trump would come for Haitian and Latino immigrants first – he has promised to start by deporting all the Haitians of Springfield – and he’ll come for the rest of us in turn.

The MAGA right must be decisively defeated at the polls this fall. Their hateful and racist rhetoric must be rejected and called out at every opportunity. This is the stuff of fascism but to defeat the latter, the former must be rejected – and strongly. Fortunately, most Ohioans, even its Republican governor, are disgusted by their baseless lies.

We call on faith leaders, labor activists, and community leaders to join us in denouncing racism of all kinds.

The Communist Party condemns the outrageous display of white supremacy and anti-immigrant hatred shamelessly advanced by the Republican Party’s candidates for president and vice-president.

We stand in solidarity with immigrants who are fleeing nations ravaged by imperialism and are in the United States to work and raise their families peacefully and safely, free of intimidation. The Communist Party condemns the outrageous display of white supremacy and anti-immigrant hatred shamelessly advanced by the Republican Party’s candidates for president and vice-president. We’ll remember in November.

Images: Vance: la conspiración perfecta by lahaine (Creative Commons).

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