'Democratic propagandist': Vance, CNN anchor get into heated exchange over Ohio's Haitian migrants

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and CNN anchor Dana Bash had a heated back-and-forth Sunday on CNN's State of the Union over claims of whether Haitian immigrants dropped into in Springfield, Ohio, by the federal government were eating pets.

Bash accused Vance of raising the temperature with his claim about migrants eating cats, with Vance's claims allegedly inspiring death and bomb threats in Springfield, The Hill reported.

"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, because [there are] a lot of employers there who say that the Haitian workers are helping fill jobs that they need desperately filled?" Bash asked.

Vance then called out Bash as a "Democratic propagandist" for declaring that his comments caused the threats.

"Dana, first of all, let me just respond to a couple of things that you said, but I wanna start with something you said, which I think is frankly disgusting and is more appropriate for a Democratic propagandist than it is for an American journalist," Vance said. 

"There is nothing that I have said that has led to threats against these hospitals. These hospitals, the bomb threats, and so forth, it's disgusting. The violence is disgusting. We condemn it. We condemn all violence," Vance said.

"What we have said is that this town has suffered terribly . . . under the policies of Kamala Harris," Vance continued. "Now, 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’ policies."

Vance earlier posted on X his concerns about "the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants" in Springfield, Ohio.

"Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?" Vance wrote.

Mainstream media, in an effort to counter the allegations, has relied upon the word of the city manager to assert that the allegations are "false rumors." The Trump campaign has insisted that the claims are based on citizens' reports, and announced that Trump is scheduled to visit Springfield.