Vance doesn’t back away from false claims about migrants in Ohio even amid threats to the community

WASHINGTON — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance did not back away on Sunday from the false claims he and Donald Trump have been making that Haitians in an Ohio community are abducting and eating pets, even as the state’s GOP governor and other officials insist there is no evidence of such behavior. Vance, an Ohio senator, said constituents in Springfield are bringing concerns to him and that at least 10 were “verifiable.” In a series of news show interviews, he said he was amplifying the claims as a way to draw attention to Democrat Kamala Harris’ immigration policies, which he said are lax, while adding, “Everybody who has dealt with a large influx of migration knows that sometimes there are cultural practices that seem very far out there to a lot of Americans.” Local and state officials have said the claims are untrue, wrongly cast the city in a negative light and have brought unwanted and frightening negative attention since Trump mentioned it in the presidential debate last week, when he called out Springfield by name. We’re angry at Kamala Harris for letting this happen to a small Ohio town, and thank God Donald Trump has called attention to it and would fight back against these policies if the American people.” Roughly 15,000 immigrants have arrived in the past few years to the predominantly white, blue-collar city of about 60,000 just over an hour west of Columbus. “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,” Vance said, quickly clarifying that he “created the focus that allowed the media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by policies.” Vance was on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” while DeWine appeared on ”This Week” on ABC and Ron was on CNN.