The Trump-Vance campaign and its supporters on Saturday slammed The New York Times for a headline that called the Republican vice presidential nominee's slogan a Nazi one.
“J.D. Vance's Blood-and-Soil Nationalism Takes the Target,” opinion columnist Jamel Bouie touted in a headline in an online newsletter, describing the Ohio senator's political ideology using a phrase popularized in Nazi Germany.
In his article, Boui slammed Vance for his claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets and wildlife — claims that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raised during Tuesday's presidential debate.
But Trump activists and allies accused the Grey Lady of spewing hate herself, which they said could escalate into violence against Vance.
“The @nytimes has now degenerated to the point of essentially calling @JDVance a Nazi,” Republican strategist Andrew Surabian wrote about the use of the “blood and soil” slogan. “A truly vile piece of content coming from a newspaper that is supposed to be the newspaper of record.”
Trump campaign adviser Alex Brusewitz blasted the New York Times for potential real-world harm.
“It's disgusting that the media is now promoting such absurd, inciting violence claims.
“@JDVance comes just 2 months after @realDonaldTrump was nearly assassinated,” he wrote.
In his column, Bowie blamed a series of bomb threats against Springfield's elementary school, city hall and other buildings on speculative comments made by an Ohio senator.
He also noted that, in light of Vance's comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, the Republican vice president appears to espouse a “blood-and-soil nationalism,” characterizing some people as unwelcome in the “community of nations” because they originated elsewhere.
“What matters to Vance is who they are, where they come from, what they look like,” Boui writes. “They don't belong here, he might say, and therefore they don't belong.”
Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesman for Vance's campaign, called on the Times to come to its senses and retract the “offensive” headline.
“It is abhorrent that The New York Times would write such a vicious article about a father of three biracial children just two months after the assassination attempt on President Trump,” Van Kirk told The Washington Post.
“With headlines like these, it's no wonder many are wondering whether the purpose was to incite violence against Senator Vance.”
In response to the backlash, the Times quietly changed the headline to “Shouldn't J.D. Vance Represent the Whole State of Ohio?”
Spokespeople for Bouie and The Times did not respond to requests for comment.
