Donald Trump ramped up his fear-mongering about Haitian immigrants in Ohio Thursday at a rally in Arizona, doubling down on his thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that they are stealing and eating people’s pets while adding a new animal to the mix of fictional entrees: geese.
Haitian immigrants, he told the crowd, have “descended upon” Springfield, Ohio, and are “destroying their way of life.”
Yet it seems the real disruption came in the form of a bomb threat Thursday at Springfield City Hall, seemingly lodged by someone disgruntled by the immigrant group. The incident caused early school closures and evacuations in the beleaguered town.
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Additionally, Haitians there are reporting property damage, while some are keeping their kids home from school due to safety concerns, according to The Haitian Times.
Trump’s claim also runs counter to the experience of one Springfield-area CEO, who praised Haitian immigrants as hard-working and reliable in a recent interview.
Trump, who at one point seemed unsure where Haitian immigrants come from, latched onto a spurious right-wing narrative—based on a single 911 call—trying to depict immigrants as also targeting geese in area parks.
“They’re taking the geese. You know where the geese are? In the park. In the lake. And even walking off with their pets,” Trump said. “These people are the worst.”
Trump also harped on his rival’s crowd sizes—a favorite topic of his—by insisting without any evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris draws “zero” people. He made the comment around the time that Harris took the stage in North Carolina’s Greensboro Coliseum before a large audience that her campaign estimated was at least 17,000.
He also seemed to suggest during Thursday’s rally that he planned to blame older voters if he loses the presidential election in November—while noticing the changing demographics of his rally crowds.
“We have a lot of young people here,” Trump said. “My audiences, they’ve gotten younger and younger, do you notice that?”
“Don’t worry, I still like the old people the best. I don’t care!” he then exclaimed, pointing out a few of the “old people” in the crowd.
“I don’t care, let that cost—all these young people,” he said, gesturing to another section of the crowd. “Let that cost me the election. I still like the old people the best. Got to stay with the people that got you there, right?"
