During Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) criticized Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) for saying that Haitian immigrants were eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio. He said he was “surprised” that he had decided to create a story. Point out immigration.
In doing so, Vance “defamed a number of people who were here legally,” the Democratic vice presidential candidate said.
“The Republican governor said that's not true,” Walz said. “Please stop. There are consequences to this. There are consequences…In Springfield, as a result, the governor had to send in state troopers to escort kindergartners to school.”
During the presidential debate in September, former President Trump said, repeated The falsehood that Haitian immigrants were eating people's pets in Springfield. Trump was repeating information Vance posted on social media earlier in the week.
This claim is not true and was first spread by neo-Nazi groups. After Trump made these claims during the debate, the city of Springfield had to repeatedly shut down schools and city hall due to bomb threats.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and the Republican mayor of Springfield both criticized Mr. Vance and Mr. Trump for repeating lies on national television.
“They are very hurtful. It hurts people very much,” DeWine told anchor Chris Cuomo. “It's heartbreaking for the people of Springfield and it's heartbreaking for the Haitians who work there every day.”
Vance told Walz on the debate podium that while Walz was “concerned about what I said in Springfield,” there were “Americans in the city whose lives have been destroyed by Kamala Harris' open borders.” He said he was worried.
“In Springfield, Ohio, and communities across this country, we have schools that are overwhelmed. We have hospitals that are overwhelmed. We're bringing in immigrants and we're getting housing that's completely unaffordable,” Vance said.
“My biggest concern in Springfield, Ohio, is the American people whose lives have been destroyed by Kamala Harris' open borders. It's a disgrace, Tim,” he added.
After Vance's remarks, the CBS host read a fact check about the city of Springfield, which he said has a “large number of Haitian immigrants with legal status.”
“The rule was we didn't do any fact-checking,” Vance said in response to a CBS fact-check.
He went on to explain the process by which Haitian immigrants in Springfield enter Haiti.
“I think it's important to say what's actually going on because we're fact-checking,” Vance said. “In the wake of Kamala Harris' Open Borders Act, there is an application called the CBP one app that allows undocumented immigrants who continue to operate as illegal immigrants to apply for asylum or parole and be granted legal status.”
Vance was referring to Temporary Protected Status, a status created by Congress in 1990 that allows immigrants whose home countries are deemed unsafe to come to the United States for a temporary and extendable period. It gives them the right to live and work.
The hosts cut off both candidates' microphones during the exchange.
