How a false rumor about Ohio pets and Laura Loomer helped derail Trump's planned attacks on Harris

 

Donald Trump wanted to spend this week attacking one of Democratic rival Kamala Harris' biggest political vulnerabilities. Instead, he spent most of the week falsely claiming that migrants are eating pets in a small town in Ohio-and defending his embrace of a far-right agitator whose presence is causing concern among his allies.

Trump's repeated parroting of unfounded social media rumors about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating pets stole headlines on a trip West, including stops in Arizona and Nevada, late this week. Promotion of the claims eclipsed a series of speeches aimed at the economy and blaming Harris for border security failures.

Trump, speaking at a news conference in California on Friday, promised "massive deportations" from Springfield, Ohio - the town that has become a political flashpoint after Republicans, including Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, spread false claims about Haitian immigrants eating the towns' pets.

The city of Springfield estimates on its website that 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County. It also reports that Haitian immigrants are in this country legally as part of a parole program that permits citizens and lawful residents to apply to have family members in Haiti visit the United States.

He again referenced a Venezuelan gang in Aurora, Colorado. Still using dehumanizing language when referring to undocumented immigrants, Trump said "nests of bad people" are being emptied into the United States.

"It's like an invasion from within and we're going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country. And we're going to start with Springfield and Aurora," Trump said.

"The people of Ohio are scared," he said. "It's going to get worse. It's going to get so bad. You know what we're experiencing now is they're just getting settled in."

 Why Trump wants to hit Harris on immigration

Republicans broadly believe that immigration and border security are a top political issue for the party - and one they can use to hammer Harris, who they have labeled President Joe Biden's "border czar." That label stems from Biden asking the vice president in 2021 to lead diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the conditions that prompted their citizens to try to migrate to the United States.

But immigration attacks against Harris by Trump during Tuesday's debate veered into the outrageous when he falsely claimed that migrants are eating dogs and cats in Springfield.

Trump's remarks brought a sharp condemnation from Biden.

"It's simply wrong. And there's no place in America. This has to stop - what he's doing - has to stop," Biden said during a Black Excellence brunch hosted at the White House Friday.

A bomb threat shut down city hall in Springfield Thursday. Two elementary schools were evacuated Friday in Springfield "based on information received from the Springfield Police Division," the Springfield City School District announced Friday.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue on Thursday night urged national candidates -- an unmistakable reference to Trump and Vance -- to "pay attention to what their words are doing to cities like ours."

"We need help, not hate," Rue said.

Trump shrugged off that concern on Friday.

"No, no. The real threat is what's happening at our border," he said.

Even Pope Francis had some harsh words for Trump's immigration position as recently as Friday, although he also criticized Harris for being supportive of a woman's right to choose.

"To send migrants away, to leave them wherever you want, to leave them … it's something terrible, there is evil there. To send away a child from the womb of the mother is an assassination because there is life. We must speak about these things clearly," the pope said.

Vance, Trump's running mate, argued that Trump's comments spurred conversation about immigration – even as he acknowledged on X the thinness of the rumors that sparked the story.

On Tuesday, Vance posted, "It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." But the veracity of the claims did not seem to be his chief concern.

"Don't allow biased media to shame you into not talking about this slow-moving humanitarian crisis occurring in a small Ohio town. We must bring it up every single day. Kamala Harris did this. And she'll do it again and again unless we stop her," he wrote on X Friday. 

Trump described Loomer as a 'free spirit' 

The claims of pets and animals being eaten in Ohio was not the only eyebrow-raising moment from this week that has put the focus on the former president's campaign.

Trump has been spending time with far-right agitator Laura Loomer, who has spread conspiracy theories about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and shared racist comments on social media attacking Harris.

People close to the former president say Loomer has contributed to some of the unseemly conspiracy theories Trump has elevated since Harris replaced Biden on the ticket, a change that has left the GOP nominee increasingly unsettled by the political landscape he now faces.

Trump on Friday described Loomer as a "free spirit" and "supporter."

She's a tough person. She's got strong opinions, and I don't know what she said, but that's not up to me. She's a supporter," Trump said.

Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex Floyd on Friday highlighted Trump's relationship with Loomer and other controversial allies. Those surrounding Trump, he said, are "as professional as you'd expect for a convicted fraudster. 

Harris campaigns in Pennsylvania, 

The late-week return to the campaign trail for Trump and Harris came after a Tuesday night debate that 63% of watchers said Harris won over Trump's 37%, according to a Nookmedia poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS. 

 The former president's trip West came as Harris campaigned in Pennsylvania -- the largest battleground of the 2024 election, with 19 electoral college votes up for grabs.

All told, the commonwealth has already seen $175 million spent on television ads – more than $93 million by Democrats and more than $81 million by Republicans, according to AdImpact data. Another $136 million, including nearly $77 million by Democrats and $59 million by Republicans, has been booked between Saturday and Election Day. That's more than has been spent – or reserved – in any other state.

Harris needs strong turnout in Democratic strongholds, such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but also to minimize Trump's margins as much as possible in the red parts of the state. Her visit Friday focused on two counties that Trump won during both of his White House bids – Cambria and Luzerne.

"Ultimately, I feel very strongly that we have to earn every vote and that means spending time with folks in the community where they live. That's why I'm here. We're going to be spending a lot more time in Pennsylvania," Harris said in a bookstore in Johnstown on Friday.