Even Fox News Forced to Fact-Check Lara Trump on Pet-Eating Conspiracy
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chair and daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, defended the Trump campaign’s lies about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Given that the rumors amplified last week by the Trump-Vance campaign have been repeatedly discredited by Springfield police and local government officials, Fox News’s Howard Kurtz asked, “Do you now accept, based on what local officials say, that this is untrue?”
“It’s not up to me to decide that,” Lara Trump replied. “This information came directly from the people of Springfield. No one at our campaign—Donald Trump didn’t make this up himself. You heard from people at a city council meeting, I believe, that they were very concerned about what’s going on,” she continued, referring back to rumors roundly debunked by those on the ground in Springfield.
“I think it’s a shame that people are trying to discredit the impact that the illegal immigration in this country has had on towns like Springfield, Ohio,” she added—a sentiment that runs against remarks made by Ohio’s Trump-supporting Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, that same day. DeWine called the smears against the Haitian Springfield residents “garbage,” adding, “They’re here legally, and they want to work, and they are, in fact, working.”
Lara Trump was not the only member of Team Trump asked to answer for the campaign’s lies this weekend. J.D. Vance told CNN’s Dana Bash, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
The demonization of the Haitian residents in Springfield has given rise to threats against government offices, public schools, and hospitals.
Kurtz: Do you accept what local officials say this is untrue.
Lara Trump: It is not up to me to decide that, this information came directly from the people of Springfield. No one at our campaign— Donald Trump did not make this up himself. pic.twitter.com/GvKH9NdLNO
Donald Trump’s angry post attacking Taylor Swift is drawing backlash from his own supporters.
On Sunday, in an all-caps post, Trump posted on Truth Social, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” And the convicted felon’s MAGA faithful were immediately concerned.
Even on Truth Social, a platform almost exclusively made up of Trump fans, the comments were negative, with supporters posting, “Why are you doing this” and “This one isn’t going to help much.” Some of them speculated that his account was hacked, and others advised him not to take on the pop star’s numerous and vocal fanbase.
Only three months ago, Trump made some creepy comments praising Swift, saying, “I hear she’s very talented. I think she’s very beautiful, actually—unusually beautiful.”
Trump on Taylor Swift 3 months ago:
“I think she’s beautiful, very beautiful. I find her very beautiful. I think she’s liberal. She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented. I think she’s very beautiful, actually— unusually beautiful.”
pic.twitter.com/LbDqGmNCqk
Last week, he had a somewhat more muted, although weird, response after the pop star endorsed Harris after Tuesday’s presidential debate, telling Fox News the next morning that he preferred Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, alluding to Swift’s partner, Travis Kelce. (Brittany Mahomes has been perceived to be pro-Trump, while her husband has said he wasn’t endorsing any presidential candidate.)
“She seems to always endorse a Democrat, and she’ll probably pay a price for it at the, uh, in the marketplace,” Trump said of Swift at the time. Does Trump think his post Sunday will hurt her and maybe even draw away her Republican fans? If so, he’d be deluded, and it might even backfire on him. The A.I. images his fans created to make him friendly to Swift fans didn’t work, with Trump even seeing a need to distance himself from them.
Swift’s popularity has driven the right wing mad, with many of them unable to comprehend her popularity. Trump’s post isn’t likely to help him or his campaign, and Swift will let the haters hate, hate, hate and shake it off.
J.D. Vance seemingly admitted that he and Donald Trump have been spreading racist lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
During an interview Sunday with CNN’s Dana Bash, Vance flailed as he attempted to downplay his ticket’s role in spreading completely discredited rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs. With Vance and Trump’s help, the cartoonishly racist lies made their way to the national stage, fueling right-wing hysterics and resulting in multiple bomb threats in the city of Springfield.
“Why have I talked about some of the things that I’ve been talking about?” Vance said. “My constituents have brought approximately a dozen separate concerns to me; 10 of them are verifiable and confirmable. And a couple of them I talk about because my constituents are telling me, firsthand, that they are seeing these things.”
Vance seemed to want to push the blame away from himself and onto his favorite punching bag: the media.
“Many of the things that the media says that are completely baseless have since been confirmed,” Vance continued. “For example, I was told, Dana, by the American media, that it was baseless that migrants were capturing the geese from the local park pond and eating them.”
Vance claimed that there were “911 calls” from well before he had chosen to elevate the claims to national scrutiny that proved these things had taken place.
“So my attitude is, ‘Listen to my constituents.’ Sometimes they’re going to say things that........
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