Ohio Mayor Says Anti-Migrant Lie Is Hurting City

Rob Rue, the mayor of Springfield, Ohio, rejected racist claims spread by former President Donald Trump this week that migrants were eating residents’ pets, saying such rhetoric was hurting citizens and hurting the community.

“Springfield is still beautiful, and your pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio,” Rue told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday. “Safe.”

“There’s a lot of frenzy on the internet, but this is not what we’re seeing,” he went on. “It’s a bit frustrating.”

The baseless rumor was shared by Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, earlier this week, who claimed at the time that residents in Springfield had seen their pets “abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” The statement was quickly debunked by police, but made it onto the debate stage Tuesday.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said in Philadelphia. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. 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.”

Springfield, a city of about 60,000 people, has seen an influx of Haitian immigrants in recent years, who now account for about 15% of the population.

Rue said the city has been taken by surprise by the velocity of the rumor, which has cast the region in a negative light. He told CNN the lies are “hurting our community” on Thursday, the same day the Springfield city hall building was evacuated after reportedly receiving a bomb threat.

“Springfield is a community that needs help,” the mayor told The Washington Post in an interview. He said, without naming Trump, that national leaders should not “hurt a community like, unfortunately, we have seen over the last couple of days.”

In his interview with Cuomo, Rue praised Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) saying state leadership had allocated funding to help address those shortfalls.

“Springfield is a community that works collaboratively to get things accomplished,” the mayor said. “We are community where leaders will come together very quickly in the middle of an afternoon and solve a problem.”