Few American small towns have leapt into a presidential campaign in the way that Springfield, OH, has dominated the last month of the 2024 campaign. Springfield is a small, downwardly mobile town of 59,000 people in southwestern Ohio. In the last couple of years, its had an icing of 15,000 Haitian migrants applied who are only legal because of some immigration legerdemain on the part of the Biden-Harris White House that doesn't pass the smell test and probably won't survive an encounter with the federal courts.

Earlier in the month, Haitians-eating-cats spawned a burst of creativity among meme producers that hasn't been experienced by the internet in four years. But it was former President Trump who tossed this flaming paper sack of poo on the national consciousness during his debate with Kamala Harris and two ABC employees.

As it turns out, Mike DeWine agrees that the Haitians have boosted Springfield's economy.

DeWine defended the thousands of Haitian migrants who are living in Springfield, but noted there are challenges that come with 15,000 migrants settling in city with a population of less than 60,000 in the last couple of years. 

"These Haitians came in here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs. And if you talk to employers, they've done a very, very good job and they work very, very hard," he said. 

Here is the version of the same defense he used Sunday morning on This Week.

RADDATZ: And here’s a question I never thought I would have to ask, but do you see any evidence, as governor of the state, that Haitian immigrants are eating pets?

DEWINE: No. Absolutely not. That’s what the mayor has said. That’s what the chief of police has said. I think it’s unfortunate that this – this came up.

Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in.

These Haitians came in to work for these companies. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.

Now, are there problems connected? Well, sure. There’s -- when you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems. And we’re addressing those. We’re working on those every single day. Primary care is essential.

The other thing we’re working a lot on is driving. We have Haitians who, frankly, many times have not driven before. We need to do a -- get more drivers training, and we’re working on that.

So, these are things that we are working on. Springfield is moving forward. I've always felt that as the governor of the state of Ohio, you know, we want people who want to come here who are legal, where they come from another state or another country who want to work.

RADDATZ: So --so, Governor, let -- let me --

DEWINE: This state that -- that is really moving forward.

This is the remainder of the interview.

RADDATZ: So -- so, bottom line is, is you are asking for federal help. No one was eating any pets in Springfield, Ohio.

So, what would you say to Donald Trump for bringing up those baseless stories? Is it responsible for a presidential candidate, a former president of the United States, to make those baseless claims?

DEWINE: Look, there’s a lot of garbage on the Internet and, you know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all.

And look, here’s what we’re starting to see. We’re starting to see Haitians --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: But -- but I want -- I want you to -- to address what you would say --

DEWINE: Let me just finish because --

RADDATZ: OK, but I -- I do want you to address what you would say to Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

DEWINE: Let --let me just -- yeah.

Yeah. There are hate groups coming into Springfield. We just don’t need these hate groups. I saw a piece of literature yesterday that the mayor told me about from, purportedly, the KKK.

Look, Springfield is a good city. They are good people. They are welcoming people. We have challenges every day. We are working on those challenges.

Haitians are -- they’re culturally -- my wife Fran and I have seen this when we’ve been down in Haiti that education is prized. So, when you look at all of these things, people who want to work, people who value their kids, who value education, you know, these are positive influences on our community in Springfield.

And any comment about that otherwise I think is hurtful and is not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield. This is -- this is a state on the move, it’s a city on the move.

These Haitians can be part of this, but there are challenges. And, you know, I've talked to people at the White House. We need additional assistance.

I think when you have this many people surge into a community, they need help.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: Governor -- Governor, I -- I did let you talk there for a few minutes.

I -- I do -- I do want to go back to this. You had threats there in Springfield. Hospitals had to close. Schools had to close because of bomb threats.

You were a huge supporter of J.D. Vance. He spread this conspiracy. Eleven million people saw it on X.

DEWINE: Look --

RADDATZ: Is there a connection between threats to your state and what President Trump said and what J.D. Vance is doing online?

DEWINE: I think these discussions about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things needs to stop. We need to focus on what is important. What’s important is that we get primary care health to everyone in a very growing city, that we do other things in regard to housing.

These are kind of the basic things that we need to do. We need to focus on those and not these -- this discussion about Haitians eating dogs. It’s just not helpful.

And, again, these people are here legally. They’re here legally. And they want to work. And they are, in fact, working.

And when you talk to the employers, what the employers tell you is, you know, we don’t know what we would do without them. They are working and they are working very hard and they’re fitting in with our native people from Springfield who have been working in this shop or working in this manufacturing company for -- for a long, long time.

So, that’s what we need to focus on. And, you know, this idea that we -- we have hate groups coming in and talk -- this -- this discussion just has to stop. We need to focus on moving forward and not dogs and cats being eaten. It’s just ridiculous.

RADDATZ: Also, on Tuesday night Trump refused to accept, again, the 2020 electionresults. He told false stories, as you – as you noticed, and falsely claimed that he ordered National Guard troops, 10,000 guard troops, on January 6th.

So, how do you square all of this with your support for Donald Trump? Has it softened in any way?

DEWINE: Look, I – yes. I said before we knew who the nominee was going to be, I would support the Republican nominee for president. I am – I am a Republican.

I think if you look at the economy issues, and these are issues that I think the American people are most concerned about, I think that Donald Trump is the – is – is the best – is the best choice.

RADDATZ: So, you would advise him to keep talking about that and not pets in Ohio?

DEWINE: I think you have to – if you talk about things that people really care about and the things that are important and things that a president can have a real impact.

Now, he can also talk about – and of course he does and – and both candidates do, all four candidates do, about immigration. Look, there’s – these are legitimate problems that we have on the border. I'm not minimizing that at all. And those are legitimate arguments where the vast majority of the American people agree with Donald Trump and not the – and not the vice president.

But what’s going on in Springfield is just fundamentally different. These people are here legally. They came to work. These are – these are good people.

RADDATZ: OK.

DEWINE: These are hard-working people.

RADDATZ: Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Governor DeWine.

DEWINE: Thank you.

RADDATZ: We appreciate your comments.

RELATED: Gov. Mike DeWine Deploys State Troopers to Springfield, OH, Despite ABC Claiming All Is Well There 

The influx of Haitians has not created jobs in Springfield; it has simply displaced native workers with illegal migrants. The Haitian migrants are covered by the Biden-Harris "humanitarian parole program." They are eligible for federal benefits, and those benefits are not means-tested. When you are receiving federal subsidies for housing, food, medical care, etc., that will depress wages. When the government provides housing vouchers, that will increase the cost of housing, making it much more attractive to some landlords to price Americans out of the housing market because the federal government doesn't care how much you charge.

Note that DeWine has yet to express any interest in the economic impact of Springfield's citizens and focuses on the benefit that what can only be described as indentured servants bring to local manufacturing.

Someone in Ohio should show a little bit of interest and find out why this is going on and why Democrats and the GOP establishment seem perfectly fine with importing tens of thousands of Haitians and dumping them in rural Ohio communities.