How Trump’s 'pet eating' rhetoric echoes 'fascists of nearly a century ago': analysis

24 September 2024

In Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants have been fearing for their safety after former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), promoted the racist and debunked conspiracy theory that Haitians in the area have been kidnapping residents' dogs and cats and eating them.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, both conservative Republicans, have said there's zero truth to the claim. And DeWine praised Haitian immigrants in Ohio as "great workers" and "a boost to the economy."

The Washington Post's Catherine Rampell, in her September 24 column, cites the bogus claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio as a troubling example of the way in which MAGA rhetoric echoes the "blood and soil" themes that fascist dictators used in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.

The columnist cautions that in many cases, "equating a political figure with fascists sounds absurd" and is "so over the top." But in Trump's case, she warns, it's accurate.

"In recent weeks," Rampell explains, "the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) have ramped up their baseless claims about violent invasions from impure foreigners, echoing 'blood and soil'-style rhetoric deployed nearly a century ago. At a rally this past weekend in North Carolina, Trump declared that 'a vote for Kamala Harris means 40 or 50 million more illegal aliens will invade across our borders, stealing your money, stealing your jobs, stealing your life.' Chillingly, he added that migrants were already 'attacking villages and cities all throughout the Midwest.'"

Rampell continues, "This followed earlier remarks in Arizona, in which he alleged that 'young American girls' are 'being raped and sodomized and murdered by savage criminal aliens.' Vance has likewise baselessly accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio of not only butchering and eating people's pets, but also, of killing people."

The columnist notes that before Vance became a Trump ally, he described him as "America's Hitler."

"Lest Trump's fascist echoes be too faint for Vance to hear these days, the former president occasionally cranks up the volume with antisemitic tropes," Rampell observes. "For instance, he accused American Jews of voting for 'the enemy' and agreed with a radio host that Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, is a 'crappy Jew.' Debates over 'good' and 'bad' Jews rarely end well for Jews."

Catherine Rampell's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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