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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine pushes back on fake migrant story amplified by Trump: “The internet can be quite crazy”
Washington — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, distanced himself from former President Donald Trump’s false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating people’s pets.
“This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes,” DeWine told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on Wednesday.
DeWine said he trusts city officials, who have said they have not received any credible reports of such conduct.
“Mayor [Rob] Rue of Springfield says, ‘No, there’s no truth in that.’ They have no evidence of that at all. So, I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city, ” DeWine said.
The baseless rumors have been amplified in recent days by Trump and his allies. Trump repeated the claim during Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats,” he said. “They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
Earlier in the week, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, shared the claim on social media, saying, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
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.
But a lack of health care in Haiti means the local primary health care system needs to be expanded to be able to handle the increase in care, DeWine said. One example he cited was their need for vaccinations.
The other challenge, he said, is teaching the new arrivals how to drive according to U.S. laws. He said Ohio has a loophole that allows drivers over 18 to pass a test to obtain a license without needing training.
“The laws in Haiti are very, very different than they are in the United States,” he said. “So the challenge is to get drivers’ training for these individuals so that when they do go on the road, they will be safe.”
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There’s still time to become a mega-millionaire for Christmas, but lady luck will have to be on your side.
No one matched Mega Millions‘ all six winning numbers last Tuesday, and the jackpot now stands at $862 million ahead of Friday night’s drawing.
The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10.
If there is a sole winner, they have a choice between an annuity, with an initial payment and then 29 annual payments, or a one-time lump sum payment. Most winners choose a cash payout.
For Friday night’s drawing, that would be an estimated $392.1 million before taxes.
If won at that level, it would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history.
According to Mega Millions, 13 jackpots have been won during December since the game began in 2002. Three were won in the days after Christmas, while the other 10 were won before Christmas. There has never been a jackpot win on Christmas Day, although over the years drawings have been conducted on Christmas six times – in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesday and Friday, tickets cost $2. The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 303 million.
The IRS said Friday it is sending a total of $2.4 billion in “special payments” to 1 million people, part of an effort to ensure that Americans who didn’t receive all of their federal stimulus checks during the pandemic will get the money in their bank accounts.
The payments will vary by person, with a maximum amount of $1,400 per recipient, the agency said in a statement.
“To minimize headaches and get this money to eligible taxpayers, we’re making these payments automatic, meaning these people will not be required to go through the extensive process of filing an amended return to receive it,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement.
Who will get a payment from the IRS?
The tax agency said it’s disbursing the funds after reviewing internal data that showed many people had filed tax returns but yet didn’t claim what is known as the “recovery rebate credit” in 2021.
That credit was designed for people who didn’t get all or some of the stimulus checks when they were issued during the pandemic. Lawmakers authorized three stimulus payments, with two sent in 2020 and a third in 2021.
Most taxpayers who were eligible for the stimulus payments have already received them directly, or later through the recovery rebate credit.
Do you need to apply for the IRS payment?
No. The IRS said it’s sending the payments automatically to about 1 million people who filed tax returns and who qualified for the recovery rebate credit yet didn’t claim it. The agency will send a letter to recipients to let them know they will receive the payment.
When will the IRS send the payments?
The tax agency said the checks will be sent in December, with most of the payments arriving by late January 2025.
The money will either be automatically direct deposited to the recipient’s bank account or will arrive in the mail via a paper check.
