'Go back where you came from': Small-town Pennsylvania residents run off far-right YouTuber

03 October 2024

Former President Donald Trump has recently singled out Charleroi, Pennsylvania — a town of roughly 4,000 residents south of Pittsburgh — over its population of Haitian migrants. YouTuber Tyler Oliveira, who has more than six million subscribers, got a decidedly icy response from local residents in his latest video about Haitians in Charleroi.

Roughly two minutes into the video, Oliveira said "bonjour" to a Black man walking by (Haitians speak Creole, which is a French-based language). The man stopped, confronted Oliveira, and asked: "How disrespectful is that?"

"Most Black people I've talked to today are from Haiti, that's why I said bonjour," the YouTuber responded.

"Now that right there is an understandable thought process. But that's not respectable," the man said. "Where are you from?"

"Modesto, California," Oliveira said.

"So you know nothing about our life," the man continued. "So you're here just trying to stir views?"

Oliveira pushed back, and insisted that he was just in Springfield, Ohio — where both Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) have been doubling down on debunked claims that Haitians are stealing and eating pets (Vance later said on CNN that he was willing to "create stories" to get the media to talk about immigration) — and that a majority of Black residents he interviewed spoke Haitian Creole. He added that he was personally curious about how Haitian migrants were arriving in cities like Springfield and Charleroi, whether they were registering to vote in the November election (it is illegal in every state for non-citizens to vote in elections) and whether it was possible for new immigrants to quickly assimilate to American society.

The Charleroi man listened as Oliveira spoke and as a small crowd started to gather. He even complimented Oliveira's "intellect" and added that while he doesn't "100% agree" with his views, he understood that Oliveira wasn't "malicious."

However, the conversation took a turn once Oliveira said "bonjour" to a Black woman walking by and insisted to the man that the woman was Haitian before even attempting to speak to her. Once the woman told Oliveira she was from Liberia, and she confirmed to the man that she was not Haitian, the man stepped in between the YouTuber and the Liberian woman, saying: "Period. Done! Done!"

"That was racist, bro!" The man said. "I really honestly don't feel like you're racist. I feel like you're just a d—. That's your character... Bro, you're out of control."

At that point, the man and the crowd began to turn on Oliveira. Pennsylvania-based progressive activist J.J. Abbott tweeted the video of the tense exchange between Oliveira and several locals, telling his followers: "Watch these Charleroi, PA locals clown a California right-winger trying to stir up anti-immigrant racism about their town."

"You're disrespecting your parents, my man," the man said. "You're embarrassing your mother!"

"You got a girlfriend? Bet you don't got a girlfriend," the man continued, openly mocking Oliveira. "Call her right now. Bet. Bet! Bet you don't got a girlfriend boy!"

"Fair enough," Oliveira said with a forced laugh.

"You're a clown," the man said, walking away. An elderly woman who was also in the vicinity then joined in, telling Oliveira to "go back where you came from" and shaming him for harassing "these poor Haitian people." She then defended Haitians, saying that they're "making money and they work f—ing hard."

"You're just coming here to put the Haitian people down," she shouted. "Get the f— out of here!"

"Well there you go! That's all we came here to understand," Oliveira said. "Why did you come in here assuming we came in here to serve trouble?"

"This is my motherf—ing town, b—," the woman said.

Watch Abbott's video and Oliveira's full video below, or by clicking this link.

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