CNN
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Donald Trump wanted to spend this week attacking one of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris’ biggest political weaknesses, but instead he spent most of his time making false claims about immigrants eating pets in a small Ohio town and defending his embrace of a far-right firebrand that has raised concerns among his allies.
Trump’s repeated reiteration of an unfounded social media rumor that Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating pets drew attention during a Western trip that included stops in Arizona and Nevada later this week. Promotion of the claim overshadowed a series of speeches focused on the economy and one in which he blamed Harris for failures in border security.
At a news conference in California on Friday, Trump promised “massive deportations” from Springfield, Ohio, a town that has become a political hotbed of Republicans, including Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who have spread false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets.
On its city website, Springfield says about 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County and that the Haitian immigrants are there legally as part of a parole program that allows citizens and legal residents to apply to bring family members from Haiti to the U.S.
Trump also spoke out against Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado, and continued to use dehumanizing language to describe illegal immigrants, saying a “den of bad people” were streaming into the US.
“This is going to be like an invasion from within, and it’s going to be the largest deportation campaign in the history of our country, and it’s going to start in Springfield and Aurora.”
“The people of Ohio are scared,” he said. “It’s going to get worse. It’s going to get very, very bad. What we’re experiencing now is they’re just starting to ease up.”
Trump repeated that argument at a rally in Las Vegas later on Friday, saying, “We’re being invaded just like the military is, except it’s harder in a lot of ways, like they’re not in uniform so they don’t know who to target.”
Trump again referenced both Springfield and Aurora, adding, “I’m your border president. I want to be your border president from now on.”
Republicans widely consider immigration and border security to be a top policy priority for the party and an issue they can use to attack Harris, whom they have labeled President Joe Biden’s “border czar.” The moniker comes after Biden asked the vice president in 2021 to lead diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the conditions that have led nationals of those countries to try to migrate to the United States.
But during Tuesday’s debate, Trump’s attacks on Harris over immigration took an outrageous turn, falsely claiming that immigrants in Springfield are eating dogs and cats.
Trump’s comments drew a sharp rebuke from Biden.
“This is simply wrong. It has no place in America. What he’s doing must stop,” Biden said Friday at the White House Black Excellence Brunch.
Springfield City Hall was forced to close Thursday due to a bomb threat. The Springfield City School District said Friday that two elementary schools were evacuated Friday “based on information received from the Springfield Police Department.” Two local hospitals, Kettering Health and Mercy Health Springfield Regional Medical Center, were also forced to close Saturday due to a bomb threat, according to a statement sent to CNN.
Springfield police said they received two calls about the presence of the Proud Boys in the city on Saturday. Video circulating on social media showed a group of about 15 to 20 people carrying flags or wearing clothing with logos associated with the far-right Proud Boys marching through the city. Police told CNN that when officers responded to the scene, the group was no longer there.
Springfield Mayor Rob Lue on Thursday night called on national candidates — an apparent reference to Trump and Vance — to “pay attention to what their words are doing to cities like ours.”
“We need help, not hate,” Lu said.
Trump denied those concerns on Friday and again on Saturday when asked if he condemned the threats in Springfield.
“Um, I don’t know what the bomb threat was about,” Trump said Saturday during a visit to the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. “I know that (Springfield) has been taken over by illegal immigrants. That’s a terrible thing that happened.”
Pope Francis also sharply criticized Trump’s stance on immigration on Friday, while blasting Harris for her support of abortion rights.
“To expel migrants, to leave them wherever they want, to abandon them… is terrible, there is evil in that. To expel a child from its mother’s womb is assassination, because there is life there. We have to speak clearly about these things,” the pope said.
Vance, Trump’s running mate, argued that Trump’s comments had sparked a debate over immigration, but he also acknowledged in court that the rumors that sparked the conversation were weakly substantiated.
“Of course, it’s possible that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” Vance wrote in a post on Tuesday, but the veracity of the allegations doesn’t seem to be his biggest concern.
“Don’t let a biased media keep you from discussing this slow-burning humanitarian crisis in small town Ohio. We should be talking about this every day. Kamala Harris has done it and she will continue to do it unless we stop,” he posted on X on Friday.
The allegations about pets being eaten in Ohio weren’t the only surprising development this week that has focused attention on the former president’s campaign.
Trump has been spending time with Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has spread conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and posted racist comments attacking Harris on social media.
People close to the former president said Loomer has contributed to some of the inappropriate conspiracy theories Trump has promoted since Harris replaced Biden as the running mate, a switch that has left the Republican nominee increasingly nervous about the political climate he now faces.
President Trump on Friday described Loomer as a “free spirit” and “advocate.”
“She’s a strong person. She has strong opinions. I don’t know what she said, but that’s not my problem. She’s a supporter,” Trump said.
Alex Floyd, emergency operations director for the Democratic National Committee, on Friday highlighted Trump’s ties to Loomer and other controversial allies. He said the people surrounding Trump are “professional, as you’d expect from a convicted con man.”
Trump and Harris returned to the campaign trail late over the weekend after Tuesday night’s debate, but 63% of viewers said Harris won compared to Trump’s 37%, according to a poll of CNN debate viewers conducted by SSRS.
Former President Harris’ visit to the West came as she campaigned in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state in the 2024 election, with 19 electoral votes at stake.
Statewide, $175 million has already been spent on TV ads, including more than $93 million by Democrats and more than $81 million by Republicans, according to data from AdImpact. Between Saturday and Election Day, $136 million has been reserved, including about $77 million by Democrats and $59 million by Republicans — more than has been spent or reserved in any other state.
Harris needs to get high voter turnout in Democratic strongholds like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh while also narrowing Trump’s lead as much as possible in Republican-leaning parts of the state. Her visit on Friday focused on Cambria and Luzerne counties, two counties that Trump won on his two bids for the White House.
“I feel very strongly that ultimately we have to get every single vote, and that means spending time in the communities where people live. That’s why I’m here. We’re going to be spending more time in Pennsylvania,” Harris told reporters Friday at a bookstore in Johnstown.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Betsy Klein, Ebony Davis, Kate Sullivan, Taylor Gargano and Raja Razek contributed to this report.