President Joe Biden lashed out Friday at former president Donald Trump for his comments about a Springfield, Ohio, community that has seen an influx of Haitian migrants.
“I want to take a moment to say something [about the] Haitian American community that’s under attack in our country right now,” Biden said during a White House event celebrating Black Excellence. “It’s simply wrong. There’s no place in America. This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop!”
His remarks came several moments after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke, referencing her heritage as a Haitian American.
Speaking as “the first Black, openly queer White House press secretary and, I’ve got to add, a proud Haitian American,” Jean-Pierre said of Biden: “I can tell you, representation matters to him. Our voices matter to him, our perspectives matter to him and our success and our community matters to him.”
The city, about 25 miles east of Dayton, was thrust into the national spotlight this week when Trump, at Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, amplified racist and xenophobic conspiracy theories about Haitian migrants, claiming that they were abducting people’s pet dogs and cats and eating them.
Members of the Haitian community in Springfield are there legally and have been granted temporary protected status in the United States after fleeing profound unrest and violence in their home country.
The rhetoric has escalated, and numerous buildings in Springfield — including its City Hall and an elementary school — were evacuated Thursday due to a bomb threat that included “hateful language” about the city’s immigrant population.
On Friday, two elementary schools were evacuated based on information received by the Springfield Police Division, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The Springfield City School District did not immediately return a voice message seeking comment.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), doubled down on his criticism of migrants Friday.
Without citing evidence, Vance wrote on X: “In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime. This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community.”
Vance went on to charge that the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, “aims to do this to every town in our country.”
A spokesman for Vance told The Washington Post that he would provide evidence for the senator’s claims but did not say when.
On Tuesday, Vance conceded on X, “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” before he went on to claim inaccurately that a Haitian migrant “murdered” a child in the city last year. The boy’s grieving father said Tuesday night the death of his son, Aiden Clark, was the result of an accident, and he has demanded an apology from Vance and others who have falsely described it. The 11-year-old was killed last year when the school bus he was riding in was hit by a vehicle driven by a Haitian immigrant who did not have a license.
“Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose,” Nathan Clark said at a public meeting Tuesday. He later named Vance, Trump and other politicians. “They have spoken my son’s name and use his death for political gain. This needs to stop now,” he said.
Officials in Springfield and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) have said the rumors of pet-eating migrants are unfounded.