CNN anchor Brianna Keilar grilled Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) for having no trouble with former President Donald Trump’s smears against Haitian migrants in Ohio.
For over a month, Trump has claimed Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating cats and dogs. The former president famously cited these conspiracy theories during the September debate against Kamala Harris and his claims were quickly fact checked by the ABC News moderators.
During a Wednesday interview on CNN, Mace was asked by Keilar about Trump’s recent rhetoric when he again claimed Haitian migrants “eating other things too that they’re not supposed to be.”
The South Carolina lawmaker repeatedly refused to disavow Trump’s comments.
KEILAR: And what about this particular rhetoric about Ohio?
MACE: I don’t have any qualms about anything that Trump has said about Ohio. I think if we’re going to talk about rhetoric again, let’s have a conversation about the rhetoric online, how elected officials are threatened, how there are attempted assassination attempts against Donald Trump and others. This is something that we should have a straightforward, honest and bipartisan conversation about. It’s something that goes on where I know that Democrat officials are threatened. Republican officials are threatened because of the violent rhetoric. I’m not worried about Ohio rhetoric. I’m more worried about rhetoric that might get somebody killed.
KEILAR: What he has said about Ohio has been false and has arguably endangered people there. But you have no qualms to be clear, as you said, about his rhetoric about Ohio?
MACE I, I don’t have — nothing that I’ve seen about what he said about Ohio gives me any sort of pause. I am worried about violent rhetoric that puts me and my family in danger.
KEILAR: But do you care about the other people, congresswoman? I hear what you’re saying about yourself.
MACE: I care about everybody.
KEILAR: Do you?
MACE: I absolutely do. And I you know, and I see it on both sides, too. And I’ve called people out. I call the balls and strikes. But to my knowledge, no one in Ohio has been threatened because of something Trump has said about Ohio, when there have been people that have given interviews about some of the challenges they’ve had with immigrants that are there. I haven’t seen that. I think I’ve seen more cat memes and jokes about it than anything else.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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