How Trump and Vance fueled a firestorm against Haitian migrants
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 749 Ratings
🗓️ 26 September 2024
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Falsely accused of eating pets by Donald Trump and JD Vance, migrants in Springfield, Ohio are now living in a climate of fear – including many Haitians. With more than 30 bomb threats targeting schools and government buildings, how are the migrants, who arrived seeking work and safety, dealing with the growing tensions?
In this episode:
- Anar Virji (@anarvirji), Al Jazeera Journalist
- Sophia Pierrelus, Community Organizer and Consultant
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra, Tamara Khandaker and Sonia Bhagat, with Phillip Lanos, Hisham Abu Salah, Hagir Saleh, Cole van Miltenburg, Duha Mosaad, and our host Malika Bilal.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, life at the center of an election misinformation storm. |
| 0:15.0 | In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. |
| 0:22.0 | A video came out of a migrant 30 miles away eating a cat. |
| 0:27.5 | Haitians in the state of Ohio are fighting back against baseless and racist claims. |
| 0:33.3 | So just how has the rhetoric affected the community? |
| 0:38.7 | I'm Malika Bilal and this is the take. |
| 0:47.9 | As a Haitian, I wanted to set the record straight that we don't eat the pets, the dogs. |
| 0:55.2 | Sophia Perilis is a Haitian community organizer in Ohio. |
| 0:59.3 | For the past few weeks, she's been discussing the impact of racist misinformation on her community. |
| 1:05.1 | When we talked to her on the phone, she said it's become a difficult situation. |
| 1:10.3 | It's been a lot. I'm just tired. |
| 1:12.6 | And I just want this to be behind us. |
| 1:15.6 | The rumors kicked into gear with a Facebook post, suggesting that Haitian immigrants in Springfield had abducted and butchered a missing cat. |
| 1:25.6 | Even though the woman who made this post deleted it, |
| 1:29.8 | the damage was done. |
| 1:31.8 | A screenshot of the post went viral |
| 1:33.9 | and found its way into the U.S. election |
| 1:35.9 | when Republican Vice President candidate J.D. Vance tweeted about it. |
| 1:40.4 | Donald Trump's running mate Senator J.D. Vance is |
| 1:43.1 | amplifying a viral claim on social media |
| 1:45.7 | about migrants in a small town in his home state of Ohio. In a post on X, he wrote that there are |
... |
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