ClydeR
09-16-2024, 09:15 AM
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Trump supporter, appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos yesterday. He rejected the claims that Trump continues to push about Haitians eating pets..
RADDATZ: And – and I, of course, you remember what he did talk about. You have said that you don’t oppose the program that allowed some 15,000 Haitians to migrate there in Ohio, in Springfield, Ohio, but former President Trump and J.D. Vance, who you support, have doubled down on baseless claims that former President Trump made at the debate. Let’s listen to that again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: And here’s a question I never thought I would have to ask, but do you see any evidence, as governor of the state, that Haitian immigrants are eating pets?
DEWINE: No. Absolutely not. That’s what the mayor has said. That’s what the chief of police has said. I think it’s unfortunate that this – this came up.
Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in.
These Haitians came in to work for these companies. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.
Now, are there problems connected? Well, sure. There’s -- when you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems. And we’re addressing those. We’re working on those every single day. Primary care is essential.
The other thing we’re working a lot on is driving. We have Haitians who, frankly, many times have not driven before. We need to do a -- get more drivers training, and we’re working on that.
So, these are things that we are working on. Springfield is moving forward. I've always felt that as the governor of the state of Ohio, you know, we want people who want to come here who are legal, where they come from another state or another country who want to work.
RADDATZ: So --so, Governor, let -- let me --
DEWINE: This state that -- that is really moving forward.
RADDATZ: So -- so, bottom line is, is you are asking for federal help. No one was eating any pets in Springfield, Ohio.
So, what would you say to Donald Trump for bringing up those baseless stories? Is it responsible for a presidential candidate, a former president of the United States, to make those baseless claims?
DEWINE: Look, there’s a lot of garbage on the Internet and, you know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all.
And look, here’s what we’re starting to see. We’re starting to see Haitians --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: But -- but I want -- I want you to -- to address what you would say --
DEWINE: Let me just finish because --
RADDATZ: OK, but I -- I do want you to address what you would say to Donald Trump.
(CROSSTALK)
DEWINE: Let --let me just -- yeah.
Yeah. There are hate groups coming into Springfield. We just don’t need these hate groups. I saw a piece of literature yesterday that the mayor told me about from, purportedly, the KKK.
Look, Springfield is a good city. They are good people. They are welcoming people. We have challenges every day. We are working on those challenges.
Haitians are -- they’re culturally -- my wife Fran and I have seen this when we’ve been down in Haiti that education is prized. So, when you look at all of these things, people who want to work, people who value their kids, who value education, you know, these are positive influences on our community in Springfield.
And any comment about that otherwise I think is hurtful and is not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield. This is -- this is a state on the move, it’s a city on the move.
These Haitians can be part of this, but there are challenges. And, you know, I've talked to people at the White House. We need additional assistance.
I think when you have this many people surge into a community, they need help.
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Governor -- Governor, I -- I did let you talk there for a few minutes.
I -- I do -- I do want to go back to this. You had threats there in Springfield. Hospitals had to close. Schools had to close because of bomb threats.
You were a huge supporter of J.D. Vance. He spread this conspiracy. Eleven million people saw it on X.
DEWINE: Look --
RADDATZ: Is there a connection between threats to your state and what President Trump said and what J.D. Vance is doing online?
DEWINE: I think these discussions about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things needs to stop. We need to focus on what is important. What’s important is that we get primary care health to everyone in a very growing city, that we do other things in regard to housing.
These are kind of the basic things that we need to do. We need to focus on those and not these -- this discussion about Haitians eating dogs. It’s just not helpful.
And, again, these people are here legally. They’re here legally. And they want to work. And they are, in fact, working.
And when you talk to the employers, what the employers tell you is, you know, we don’t know what we would do without them. They are working and they are working very hard and they’re fitting in with our native people from Springfield who have been working in this shop or working in this manufacturing company for -- for a long, long time.
So, that’s what we need to focus on. And, you know, this idea that we -- we have hate groups coming in and talk -- this -- this discussion just has to stop. We need to focus on moving forward and not dogs and cats being eaten. It’s just ridiculous.
More... (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-9-15-24-gov-mike-dewine/story?id=113690244)
RADDATZ: And – and I, of course, you remember what he did talk about. You have said that you don’t oppose the program that allowed some 15,000 Haitians to migrate there in Ohio, in Springfield, Ohio, but former President Trump and J.D. Vance, who you support, have doubled down on baseless claims that former President Trump made at the debate. Let’s listen to that again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: And here’s a question I never thought I would have to ask, but do you see any evidence, as governor of the state, that Haitian immigrants are eating pets?
DEWINE: No. Absolutely not. That’s what the mayor has said. That’s what the chief of police has said. I think it’s unfortunate that this – this came up.
Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in.
These Haitians came in to work for these companies. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.
Now, are there problems connected? Well, sure. There’s -- when you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems. And we’re addressing those. We’re working on those every single day. Primary care is essential.
The other thing we’re working a lot on is driving. We have Haitians who, frankly, many times have not driven before. We need to do a -- get more drivers training, and we’re working on that.
So, these are things that we are working on. Springfield is moving forward. I've always felt that as the governor of the state of Ohio, you know, we want people who want to come here who are legal, where they come from another state or another country who want to work.
RADDATZ: So --so, Governor, let -- let me --
DEWINE: This state that -- that is really moving forward.
RADDATZ: So -- so, bottom line is, is you are asking for federal help. No one was eating any pets in Springfield, Ohio.
So, what would you say to Donald Trump for bringing up those baseless stories? Is it responsible for a presidential candidate, a former president of the United States, to make those baseless claims?
DEWINE: Look, there’s a lot of garbage on the Internet and, you know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all.
And look, here’s what we’re starting to see. We’re starting to see Haitians --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: But -- but I want -- I want you to -- to address what you would say --
DEWINE: Let me just finish because --
RADDATZ: OK, but I -- I do want you to address what you would say to Donald Trump.
(CROSSTALK)
DEWINE: Let --let me just -- yeah.
Yeah. There are hate groups coming into Springfield. We just don’t need these hate groups. I saw a piece of literature yesterday that the mayor told me about from, purportedly, the KKK.
Look, Springfield is a good city. They are good people. They are welcoming people. We have challenges every day. We are working on those challenges.
Haitians are -- they’re culturally -- my wife Fran and I have seen this when we’ve been down in Haiti that education is prized. So, when you look at all of these things, people who want to work, people who value their kids, who value education, you know, these are positive influences on our community in Springfield.
And any comment about that otherwise I think is hurtful and is not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield. This is -- this is a state on the move, it’s a city on the move.
These Haitians can be part of this, but there are challenges. And, you know, I've talked to people at the White House. We need additional assistance.
I think when you have this many people surge into a community, they need help.
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Governor -- Governor, I -- I did let you talk there for a few minutes.
I -- I do -- I do want to go back to this. You had threats there in Springfield. Hospitals had to close. Schools had to close because of bomb threats.
You were a huge supporter of J.D. Vance. He spread this conspiracy. Eleven million people saw it on X.
DEWINE: Look --
RADDATZ: Is there a connection between threats to your state and what President Trump said and what J.D. Vance is doing online?
DEWINE: I think these discussions about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things needs to stop. We need to focus on what is important. What’s important is that we get primary care health to everyone in a very growing city, that we do other things in regard to housing.
These are kind of the basic things that we need to do. We need to focus on those and not these -- this discussion about Haitians eating dogs. It’s just not helpful.
And, again, these people are here legally. They’re here legally. And they want to work. And they are, in fact, working.
And when you talk to the employers, what the employers tell you is, you know, we don’t know what we would do without them. They are working and they are working very hard and they’re fitting in with our native people from Springfield who have been working in this shop or working in this manufacturing company for -- for a long, long time.
So, that’s what we need to focus on. And, you know, this idea that we -- we have hate groups coming in and talk -- this -- this discussion just has to stop. We need to focus on moving forward and not dogs and cats being eaten. It’s just ridiculous.
More... (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-9-15-24-gov-mike-dewine/story?id=113690244)