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Haitian Immigrants Become Latest Right-Wing Target

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Haitian Immigrants Become Latest Right-Wing Target

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Last week marked the highly anticipated presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Hosted by ABC News, the event was touted as the first–and likely only–meet up between the two candidates, who will square off in November.

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By most accounts, Harris had a strong night. Pundits observed that she baited her opponent, repeatedly drawing out his least popular tendencies. At one point, she took a jab at Trump's apparent fixation on crowd sizes at their respective rallies.

The former president, meanwhile, touted himself as a strongman and frequently found himself at odds with the moderators, who fact-checked numerous false statements he made–something that did not happen in his previous debate with Joe Biden.

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Trump sought to turn the focus of the debate to immigration, an issue on which voters have consistently seen him as the stronger option. For years, Trump has used migrants as political fodder. He has deployed dehumanizing and racist rhetoric, describing them as an "invasion," as "rapists and murderers," and people who are "poisoning the blood of the country." For his 2024 campaign, he has sought to blame Harris for what he has described as a border that is out of control.

At the debate, Trump took the rhetoric a step further. At one point, he repeated a discredited, racist claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating other people's pets.

"They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats," Trump declared.

The claim had been deliberately spread online by far-right activists, neo Nazis, and Republicans, including billionaire conspiracy theorist and Trump ally Elon Musk as well as Trump's vice presidential pick, JD Vance.

Following the former president's remark violent anti-Haitian threats began hitting Springfield. On Thursday, bomb threats forced the closure of government buildings and the evacuation of local schools. Days later, more bomb threats caused two hospitals to go into lockdown. On Sunday, Wittenberg University canceled all on-campus events after threatened shooting.

Trump, for his part, refused to condemn the threats. In a video the Harris campaign shared on Threads, the former president said he was unaware of them. Both he and Vance have continued spreading the debunked, racist claims about Haitians seemingly for political benefit. Trump, for example, insisted they have been rounding up geese at local parks to eat and pledged to begin his mass deportations in Springfield.

Anti-Haitian Rhetoric

Check out this piece in THE NEW REPUBLIC about the escalating Trump campaign rhetoric against Haitians and what it means for the country.

Trump Escalates Migrant Conspiracy With Terrifying Threat
Donald Trump has now aimed his crosshairs at legal immigrants as well as undocumented ones.

THE MAJORITY REPORT, meanwhile, gave a good rundown of anti-Haitian sentiment on the rise.

STATES NEWSROOM reported on how President Joe Biden denounced anti-Haitian racism at the White House's first brunch to celebrate Black excellence.

Biden celebrates Black achievements, decries racism against Haitian migrants • Michigan Advance
President Joe Biden, in the last months of his four-year term, detailed his administration’s efforts in seeking to advance opportunities and equity for Black communities on Friday during the White House’s first-ever brunch in celebration of Black Excellence. The event came as the Congre…

THE NATION offered a perspective by columnist Joan Walsh, condemning the use of Haitian migrants as political tools by Trump and Vance.

Trump and Vance Won’t Be Happy Until Springfield Haitians Die
Trump’s gambit is bad, but Vance’s is even worse. He’s one of Ohio’s senators; these are his constituents. How can he endanger them like this?
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WAIT!!! Did you see the latest IMPORTANT CONTEXT report? Last week, Johns Hopkins University held a health policy symposium with a number of notable COVID-19 misinformation spreaders and contrarians. Joining them were a number of right-wing political operatives affiliated with groups funded by billionaire industrialist and conservative powerbroker Charles Koch, who himself is a donor to the school. The event is similar to another conference Stanford is hosting next month, which IMPORTANT CONTEXT also reported on.

Johns Hopkins to Hold “Fringe,” Dark Money Heavy COVID Summit
“This meeting has nothing to do with genuine improvements in public health policy.”
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The Latest on Gaza

Israel has continued waging its brutal in Gaza, which experts are increasingly called a genocide. The IDF recently dropped 2,000-pound bombs on refugee camps. MAJORITY REPORT did a segment on the story.

Despite the gratuitous violence, U.S. weapons sales to Israel have continued without conditions. The U.S. recently approved $165 million in weapons sales to the country for delivery in 2027.

JACOBIN offered a scathing rebuke of the U.S.'s posture.

The US Government Is a Partner to Israel Killing US Citizens
The US government is not just arming a country that kills Americans with impunity — it’s lying on Israel’s behalf so it can escape blame for those murders. Why is this allowed to continue?

THE INTERCEPT reported that in addition to all of the weapons America has sent Israel, the U.S. Army is now upgrading an airbase in the country.

U.S. Army Is Upgrading an Israeli Base to Make Room for New Boeing Jets
In addition to billions in weapons, the U.S. military is renovating an air base in the south of Israel, according to a new contract.
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More Election 2024

In other news, THE CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY reported on a troubling report on the growing threat to American democracy.

New CMD Report: Hundreds of Public and GOP Officials in Eight Battleground States Stand Ready to Subvert the 2024 Election Results - EXPOSEDbyCMD
The Center for Media and Democracy released a major new report today highlighting the elevated threat to the peaceful transition of power following this November’s national elections — more than 200 public and Republican Party officials in swing states who either deny the 2020 election results, have…

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