Erin Perrine, a Republican strategist and former communications director for Donald Trump‘s 2020 presidential campaign, told CNN‘s Jim Acosta on Wednesday morning that Trump is “missing the opportunity” to discuss specific immigration policy by continuing his attack on Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have repeatedly attacked Haitian migrants who are in the Ohioan city legally, falsely suggesting they have been eating pet cats and dogs.
Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who identifies as a Trump-Vance supporter, has strongly condemned these false claims, calling them “disappointing” and “harmful.” Violent threats have been sent to schools and officials in the city following the amplification of the claims at rallies and on social media.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
As immigration and border security remain top issues in the 2024 presidential election, Trump often addresses them at his campaign rallies.
On Tuesday night at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, Trump reiterated his stance on Springfield, telling the crowd: “You have to move the people back to the country from which they came, you have to.” He added: “Every state is a border state now.”
Perrine, who served as communications director for Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz after her role with Trump, said on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta on Wednesday morning that the “send them back” chants at Trump’s rallies following his Springfield comments are “inappropriate.”
In reference to Trump’s continuation of commentary about Springfield, which has been met with counterprotests, she said: “Donald Trump always doubles down. He never backs down; this has always been his strategy.”
Perrine continued: “Donald Trump is really missing the opportunity here and so are Republicans. If you want to talk about immigration, and specifically if you want to talk about the executive action taken versus the legislative work that would need to be done to fix the immigration system, let’s have that policy conversation.” Many migrants in Springfield have been granted temporary protected status by the Biden administration.
Trump has repeatedly said he would crack down on illegal immigration, vowing to mass-deport undocumented migrants if he were the next president.
Perrine added: “The times that Republicans are not focused and strong on the message regarding immigration and the economy is a lost moment in messaging. The American people are screaming loudly about what they care about…the economy and immigration.”
A Pew Research Center survey of 9,720 adults, conducted from August 26 to September 2, found that 81 percent of voters say the economy is a very important issue for their vote in the election, and 61 percent say immigration. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
“If we stay on message on these things, Republicans can win in November,” Perrine said. The 2024 presidential election is extremely tight, with razor-thin margins between Trump and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as down-ballot races, with control of the Senate on the line.
Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky spoke with Perrine and Acosta, saying that Trump’s fixation on “demonize[ing]” Haitians, instead of other migrants who have come to the United States legally, is “because they’re Black,” adding that this is a “racial appeal…to racially exploit people.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment via email on Wednesday.
Acosta then asked Perrine: “I mean straight up, he’s [Donald Trump] just being racist, right?” to which she replied: “I’m not going to play into that whatsoever here.”
