The Bitter Consequences of the Debate for Trump and the People of Springfield
The debate between the two U.S. presidential election rivals became the most historic debate in the country’s history, but in the worst possible way. During the debate, Trump jeopardized everything in his campaign by disrupting his discourse and thought process, and in front of the cameras, he fell into his rival’s trap, making a series of delusional claims. The debate moderators only intervened three times to correct and fact-check his claims, and even these three instances led Trump and his supporters to accuse them of siding with Harris.
Trump’s press conference in California on Friday, like his rallies after the debate, was filled with the repetition of his vile claims. The claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing people’s pets began with a meaningless post on social media, which was fueled by Trump’s selected deputy, J.D. Vance, and Elon Musk on social media. But the main story lies elsewhere. When Trump’s plane landed in Philadelphia for the debate, a particular figure disembarked with him: Laura Loomer, an extreme racist proud of her Islamophobia and anti-immigration stance, who appears to be a new inseparable member of Trump’s circle.
It was Laura Loomer who talked so much about the fake Springfield story to Trump that he subconsciously brought it up in the debate to insult immigrants. The post-debate warnings from Trump’s supporters about Loomer were notable. Even Marjorie Taylor Greene, an extreme and anti-Semitic supporter of Trump, opposed her. Loomer, with her offensive remarks about immigrants and various political figures and her astonishing racial insults towards Harris, has long been considered a significant threat to Trump’s campaign. Nonetheless, Trump took Loomer with him to the September 11th anniversary ceremony and defended her at the press conference.
The consequences of the debate for Trump have been extremely severe.
He resisted the second debate with Harris for several days and in his latest statements said that he would consider it if he felt like it. Contrary to Trump’s claims, no credible poll showed him leading in the debate.
The candid criticisms from Republican experts about his behavior in the debate further worsened the situation, and Trump explicitly attacked some Fox News moderators on this matter. In any case, five credible polls conducted after the debate showed Harris in a superior position compared to Trump. Specifically, the reputable Ipsos poll and the Morning Consult poll indicated Harris’s increasing lead.
In this situation, with Trump worrying even his supporters with bizarre promises of new tax cuts, he needs to address Laura Loomer more than anything. This woman has overshadowed everything in his campaign. The people of Springfield also need to deal with the consequences of Trump’s falsehoods about immigrants in their city. Threats against immigrants have turned into threats against public officials and even public bomb threats in schools.
The pleas from city and state officials for people not to believe Trump’s lies have had little impact.
On Saturday, the range of threats from Trump’s supporters against immigrants and officials and public offices extended to bomb threats at a hospital in Springfield. Interestingly, the Haitian immigrants who have come to Ohio were actually attracted to the area through official advertisements and labor demands and are part of the region’s life and economy. By Wednesday, a wave of new threats and dangers had emerged for regional officials, schools, and medical centers, with dozens of new bomb threats made.
None of these threats were able to convince Trump and his deputy to stop spreading falsehoods on this issue.
The situation reached a point where Trump’s deputy, J.D. Vance, openly stated in an interview with CNN that they are not averse to fabricating stories in line with their goal of what he describes as the threat of immigrants.
The pleas from regional officials and the governor of Ohio, along with their praise and defense of Haitian immigrants who are completely legal in the U.S., have had no effect.