(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said he plans to visit two towns that have become flashpoints in the national debate over immigration and the center of unfounded conspiracy theories the former president has promoted about migrants.
“I’m gonna go there in the next few weeks. I’m going to Springfield and I’m going to Aurora,” Trump said at a rally in Uniondale in New York on Wednesday.
Trump has seized on the towns of Springfield, Ohio and Aurora, Colorado, in his messaging on immigration, casting the towns as overrun by migrants who have threatened the health and safety of residents.
During his Sept. 10 debate with Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Trump promoted unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield are eating neighbors’ dogs and cats. Trump’s comments sparked controversy and public safety concerns after the city received bomb threats to schools and hospitals. City officials say there are no credible reports of migrants eating household pets.
Trump has also repeatedly claimed that Aurora has been overrun by migrant gangs from Venezuela.
The former president has has focused on illegal immigration and highlighted incidents of violent crime committed by migrants or where immigrants are suspects, seizing on polls showing that immigration is a major concern for voters. Trump has drawn criticism over his language, including for calling the border crisis an “invasion” and accusing migrants of spreading crime and disease across the country.
“My heart breaks for this community,” Harris said Tuesday in response to a question about Springfield, Ohio during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists.
“When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big there is a profound amount of responsibility that comes with that,” Harris said without mentioning Trump directly. “Especially when you have been, and then seek to be, again, President of the United States of America.”
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