Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday ripped Donald Trump’s repeated bashing of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying the former president was “spewing lies grounded in tropes.”
“It’s a crying shame. Literally,” Harris said in her most extensive remarks to date on her Republican opponent’s baseless claims.
“I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s got to stop,” she said during a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists.
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The city has been hit with dozens of bomb threats, including at elementary schools, after Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, promoted false rumors that immigrants were eating residents’ pet dogs and cats.
“I mean, my heart breaks for this community. You know there were children, elementary school children” who had to be evacuated on what was supposed to be school picture day, Harris said.
“A whole community put in fear,” she added.
Of Trump, she said, “When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand how much your words have meaning.”
“The American people deserve, and I do believe, want better than this,” she said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
