Editorial

The Big Lie is GOP’s Brand

There is no bottom to Donald Trump’s Republican Party. And his running mate is digging further. .

Sen. J.D. Vance picked up a baseless rumor, which had been batted around social media for about a month, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting their neighbors’ pets and eating them. Vance wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sept. 9, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

Less than 30 minutes after Vance’s post, NPR noted, the Springfield News-Sun reported that local police said incidents of pets being stolen or eaten were “not something that’s on our radar right now” The newspaper said the unsubstantiated claim seems to have started with a post in a Springfield Facebook group that was widely shared across social media.

After Vance posted it on X, an advocate for the Haitian community in Springfield reported receiving a wave of harassment.

Then Trump supercharged the claim during his nationally televised debate on ABC with Vice President Kamala Harris the evening of Sept. 10, when he brought up the pet-eating hoax in an attack on the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policy.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating—the pets of the people that live there and this is what’s happening in our country,” Trump said.

Debate moderator David Muir debunked Trump’s claim, noting that local officials said the story was untrue. Trump refused to accept the correction and insisted he had seen “people on television” verifying the story.

Immediately following the debate, Vance told CNN that he had “heard from a number of constituents” on the issue and had “both first-hand and second-hand reports saying this stuff is happening.”

After the story became national and international news, the city received bomb threats to Springfield schools, hospitals, city hall and threats were made against city officials.

But Trump refused to denounce the bomb threats at Springfield. “I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats,” he told reporters in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sept. 14. When a reporter asked him if he denounced the bomb threats, Trump replied, “I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants and that’s a terrible thing that happened.”

Sept. 15 on CNN, Vance rejected claims that he was to blame for bomb threats, school cancellations and harassment of Haitians. He justified his statements about the rumors, saying he was just trying to bring attention to the problems in Springfield and other places impacted by immigrants. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the sufferings of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.

It should be a no-brainer for Trump and Vance to denounce bomb threats, but here we are. Instead, Vance on Sept. 16 complained after a gunman was found set up on Trump’s golf course in Florida, “no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months.”

This is merely one more episode demonstrating why neither Trump nor Vance belong anywhere near the White House. And a vote in a swing state for anybody but Kamala Harris empowers Trump.

Electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the top of the ballot is merely the first step in keeping our democracy. Vote blue down the ballot. Democrats have a good chance of regaining the House majority, but they face a challenge in keeping a Senate majority, which will be crucial in restoring balance to federal courts.

Democrats have a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, but that includes four independent senators who usually vote with the Democrats. Joe Manchin (W.Va), one of the indies, is not seeking re-election and is expected to be succeeded by Republican Gov. Jim Justice.

Democrats need to win open seats in Arizona, Michigan and Maryland and protect targeted incumbent Democrats in Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They can’t lose another seat.

Among targeted Democrats, Sen. Jon Tester is seeking his fourth term in Montana, but the state has gotten a lot redder in the past 20 years, as Trump won it by 16 points in 2020. Tester faces a tough challenge from newcomer Tim Sheehy (R), a former Navy SEAL and businessman with the wealth to finance his campaign, as well as Trump’s backing. The Cook Political Report rates it leaning Republican.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a progressive supporter of working-class voters, is seeking a fourth term in Ohio against Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer and immigrant from Colombia who grew up in Florida and has amassed a fortune that can self-fund his campaign. He was not the Ohio GOP establishment’s choice but had Trump’s support (and agrees with Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric). CPR rates the race a tossup.

In Nevada, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D) faces a challenge from Sam Brown (R), a West Point graduate who was burned and left scarred by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008. Brown lost a Republican primary for the Texas House in 1914. He lost a Republican primary for the Senate in 2022. CPR rates the race as leaning Democratic.

In Pennsylvania, David McCormick, former hedge fund CEO, is challenging Sen. Bob Casey. McCormick ran for the Senate in 2022 but lost the Republican primary to Dr. Ehmet Oz. McCormick is stressing that he grew up in Pennsylvania and has a house in Pittsburgh, and is trying to tie Casey to the Biden-Harris administration on the border and inflation, but Sen. Casey is an institution and will be hard to beat. Cook Political Report rates the race as leaning Democratic.

In Arizona, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is departing, Rep. Ruben Gallego, a progressive Democrat with Marine combat experience and a Harvard degree, faces Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor who now mocks the “fake news media” and is a favorite of Trump’s MAGA movement, who lost her race for governor in 2022 and claims the Democrat, now Gov. Katie Hobbs, stole the election. The race is rated leaning Democratic.

In Wisconsin, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) faces a challenge from Eric Hovde, the chairman and chief executive of Sunwest Bank, a $2.8 billion commercial lender based in Utah. Hovde has a $7 million home in Laguna Beach, Calif. The race is rated leaning Democratic.

Maryland normally is reliably blue but Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican former governor, is running against Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive, in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D). The race is rated likely Democratic.

In Michigan, with retirement of Debbie Stabenow (D), Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D), faces former Rep. Mike Rogers (R). The race is rated a tossup.

Democrats also hope to upset incumbents in Florida, where former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) is taking on Sen. Rick Scott, and Texas, where Rep. Colin Allred (D) is challenging Ted Cruz. Polls show both races tightening. Keep hope alive. — JMC

From The Progressive Populist, October 15, 2024

Populist.com