JD Vance and Donald Trump are again using a familiar tactic: spreading lies. This time, they falsely claim Haitian immigrants are eating Americans’ pets, stoking fear and division.

Vance, on CNN, openly admitted to "creating stories" to manipulate media attention. Such tactics echo propaganda methods used by demagogues. Goebbels stated, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Roger Stone, the self-proclaimed “dirty trickster,” has tutored Trump in this approach, and it appears the Republican Party has now fully adopted these tactics.

Vance has written extensively about his conversion to Catholicism. He quotes René Girard’s theories on scapegoating. Girard argues that societies often resolve internal conflicts by blaming and punishing a marginalized group, therefore fostering social “unity” and mitigating discord within the “in” group.

Vance acknowledged such scapegoating as a moral failure, a tactic directly opposed to his professed Christian values. He keeps fueling this false narrative, hoping for political gain. In the meantime, the residents of Springfield, Ohio, are suffering the real-world consequences of his actions, including rising tensions and bomb threats.

As the next election approaches, Vance’s and Trump’s tactics risk to further erode democratic institutions. If he wins, expect Jan. 6 prisoners to be released, immigrants being rounded up and the Justice Department sent after his opponents. If he loses, the election will be contested. As Maya Angelou says, “If someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Paul Frehner

Hancock