Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance lashed out at CNN host Dana Bash after she told him there had been bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, following his suggestion that Haitians were eating pets in the town.
In a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union program, Bash noted that local officials “found zero evidence to substantiate” claims that geese were being taken out of parks by Haitian immigrants.
“Also, other evidence that you have talked about, even you’ve retweeted alleged evidence, are unsourced social media videos from a different city, apparently no connection to Haitians,” Bash said.
“So instead of saying things that are wrong and actually causing the hospitals, the schools, the government buildings to be evacuated because of bomb threats, because of the cats and dogs thing, why not actually be constructive in helping to better integrate them into the community?” the CNN host asked.
Vance said the question was “frankly disgusting” and “more appropriate for a democratic propagandist than it is for an American journalist.” He insisted that nothing he said caused the bomb threats in Springfield.
“Senator, this happened after you and President Trump were on the debate stage, said that cats and dogs were being eaten,” Bash pointed out. “After that, they were threatened.”
“You just accused me of inciting violence against the community when all that I’ve done is surface the complaints of my constituents, people who are suffering because of Kamala Harris’s policies,” Vance opined. “Are we not allowed to talk about these problems because some psychopaths are threatening violence?”
Vance then tried to “fact check” Bash because she said Haitians were in Springfield legally.
“They’re in the country through what’s called temporary protective status,” Bash observed.
“That is when Kamala Harris waved a magic amnesty wand, taking people and giving them legal status,” Vance complained. “That is not to say that they’re here legally.”
“There are policy disagreements all the time, but the fact is that it is the law,” Bash said. “You were the one who brought this up. The [former] president said it to 60 million people.”
“Dana, would you like to ask me questions and then let me answer them, or would you like to debate me on these topics?” Vance shot back.
“I’m happy to be here to talk about policy, but if you’re going to interrupt me every single time that I open my mouth, then why am I even doing this?” he added.
