Former President Donald Trump turned down an opportunity to denounce the bomb threats that have hit Springfield, Ohio just days after amplifying a racist lie involving Haitian immigrants in the community.
“I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats,” the Republican nominee told reporters in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday.
He continued, “I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants and that’s a terrible thing that happened. Springfield was this beautiful town and now they’re going through hell. It’s a sad thing. Not gonna happen with me, I can tell you right now.”
Trump notably entertained the false, debunked claim that immigrants were taking and eating peoples’ cats and dogs in the city during Tuesday’s debate.
Other Republicans have also pushed the lie including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who represents the Ohio community in the U.S. senate and has encouraged supporters to “keep the cat memes flowing.”
In the days since the debate, schools in Springfield as well as the city hall building were evacuated due to bomb threats.
Wittenberg University, a private liberal arts college in Springfield, also cancelled all events on Sunday due to what school officials described as “an email that threatened a potential shooting on-campus.”
Trump’s latest remarks on Springfield arrive after he threatened to deport Haitians — a majority of whom are legally in the U.S. — from the small city during a press conference in Los Angeles on Friday.
The former president, in the same press conference, was asked why he continues to spread misinformation following the bomb threats at schools.
“No, no, no,” said Trump before the reporter finished their question. “The real threat is what’s happening at our border.”
President Joe Biden, in remarks at the 2024 Phoenix Awards Dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, pointed to Trump’s “poisoning the blood” remarks before addressing his racist lie about Haitians in Ohio.
“It’s wrong. It’s got to stop. Any president should reject hatred in America, not incite it,” Biden declared.