Senator JD Vance continued to peddle unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, on Sunday and said he didn’t “like” far-right activist Laura Loomer’s racist social media post about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
When NBC’s Meet the Press Kristen Welker asked Vance about Loomer’s comments, he alleged that he’d only read them this morning, because “I knew that you’d ask me about it.”
“Look, Kristen,” Vance began, “I make a mean chicken curry, I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House.”
“Do I agree with what Laura Loomer said about Kamala Harris? No, I don’t. I also don’t think that this is actually an issue of national import. Is Laura Loomer running for president? No,” he continued. “Kamala Harris is running for president, and whether you’re eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things have gotten more expensive thanks to her policies.”
In addition to her comments about Harris, Loomer has been in the news this month for her increasing influence on Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. Loomer was among those Trump took on his private plane en route to Philadelphia for ABC’s presidential debate last week. When asked about this, Trump responded that “a lot” of people fly with him because “it’s a very big plane.” Trump said Loomer is a “free spirit” and “supporter.”
Trump was also alongside Loomer at official September 11 memorials in New York and Pennsylvania this week. Loomer has promoted the conspiracy that 9/11 was an “inside job” and recently said in a CNN interview that, “I’ve never denied the fact that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the media calls me anti Muslim precisely for the reason that I spend so much time focusing on talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.”
On Sunday, Welker pressed Vance on Loomer’s comments and how they relate to his Indian-American wife and potential second lady, Usha Vance.
“Senator, were you and your wife offended, and do you disavow those comments that even some Trump allies say are blatantly racist?” Welker asked. “Kristen, I just told you, I don’t like those comments,” Vance replied. “I also don’t look at the internet for every single thing to get offended by.”
Loomer saw Vance on Meet The Press—and lauded the VP hopeful’s responses.
“Vance,” Loomer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “has done a fantastic job as an Ohio Senator, and he has given a voice to the forgotten men and women who want to talk about real issues.”
“Donald Trump and JD Vance are giving those people a voice to tell the TRUTH about how they are being replaced by Kamala Harris’s invaders,” she posted, adding, “PS: I hope I can try the Senator’s chicken curry one of these days.”
Minutes before in the interview, Vance again doubled down on the unfounded claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are harming and eating household pets and geese.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance posted on X earlier this week.
“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?”
So far, the xenophobic rumors have been spouted by Vance, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA, and Trump himself—to name a few.
On the debate stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, Trump said without any proof, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating—they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
