By Felicia J. Persaud
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Sept. 24, 2024: In the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump visited Little Haiti in Miami at the invitation of the now-late Haitian immigrant and Republican, Bernard Sansaricq. Trump promised the Haitian-American community that his administration would tackle their concerns and that he would be their “greatest champion.” Fast forward to today, and the story of Haitians for Trump reveals a grim reality – one of empty promises and, now, racist attacks.
Sansaricq, to his credit, eventually saw through Trump’s façade. Before his death, he penned an open letter denouncing the Trump administration, stating, “The gangs now have full control of the country and for three and a half years under Trump’s presidency the situation has worsened both politically and economically – corruption is the law all over the land… Haiti, which was once the Pearl of the Caribbean, is now worse than Somalia.”
It’s hard to forget that, just two years after vowing to support Haitians, Trump allegedly claimed that Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS” and referred to Haiti as a “sh–hole” country. In 2017, he canceled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. And yet, despite these egregious actions, Trump continues to enjoy some Haitian support.
Enter Madgie Nicolas, who leads the current iteration of Haitians for Trump. Nicolas touts her credentials on her Instagram profile as a “former Advisor to the 45th President” and the Chair of Haitians for Trump. Recently, she hosted a rally for Trump in Florida and claims to have been involved in several political campaigns, serving as an appointee and surrogate on Black Voices for Trump.
But today, as MAGA nativists and proponents of the Great Replacement Theory launch vile campaigns against Haitian immigrants, Nicolas and her followers have remained conspicuously silent. The latest wave of racist rhetoric has erupted in Springfield, Ohio, a predominantly White city and the home state of Republican U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, who has seized on a baseless and inflammatory claim targeting Haitian immigrants.
The allegations began with a local Facebook post by Springfield resident Erika Lee, who falsely claimed that a cat was found hanging from a tree, butchered, and eaten by Haitian immigrants. This grotesque lie was quickly amplified by the Neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, which organized an “anti-Haitian Immigration march” in Springfield on August 10. The group marched with swastikas and used the incident to spread their hate.
Not surprisingly, Vance took to X (formerly Twitter) to amplify the falsehood, declaring that Haitian immigrants were “causing chaos” in Springfield. He went further, claiming that people’s pets were being abducted and eaten by Haitian newcomers.
Other prominent figures joined in, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who posted a meme on X depicting cats begging people to vote for Trump “so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.” Even Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped on the bandwagon, spreading more incendiary memes.
Then, on September 10, Trump himself took the hateful rhetoric to a new level during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, stating: “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” These unfounded accusations have triggered bomb threats against a school and City Hall in Springfield and have tarnished the reputation of the Haitian Community Help & Support Center, a non-profit established to support new Haitian arrivals.
In the face of these outrageous and dangerous lies, Nicolas has remained silent—unlike Sansaricq, who had the courage to acknowledge that Haitians were deceived. Instead, Nicolas has previously dismissed Trump’s racist attacks, calling them part of “a dirty fight” and accusing Democrats of “playing the victim.”
Trump, not content with the damage already done, ratcheted up his attacks on September 12th. He labeled Haiti a “totally failed country” and claimed that Haitian immigrants were “destroying” Springfield, Ohio.
“This was a beautiful community, and now it’s horrible what’s happened,” Trump declared at a rally in Tucson, Arizona, even going so far as to assert that 911 calls confirmed Haitian migrants were “walking off with the town’s geese.”
The rhetoric being used is a clear echo of the dangerous Great Replacement Theory (GRT), a racist narrative that claims the nation’s greatness is imperiled by an influx of foreign races, ethnicities, or religions. Throughout history, GRT has been used to justify mass atrocities. Hitler propagated it in his genocidal quest against Jews and Black soldiers in Europe. In the U.S., it has inspired mass murders like the 2015 Charleston church shooting and the 2019 El Paso Walmart massacre.
Trump’s latest attacks put a dangerous bull’s eye on the backs of Haitian immigrants across the country. The silence from Nicolas and Haitians for Trump only serves to fuel the fire. One can’t help but wonder: is this victimhood, as Nicolas claims, or is this the sinister ideology of the Great Replacement Theory at play?
The time has come for Nicolas and others who have thrown their support behind Trump to take a stand – because history has shown us that this kind of rhetoric can quickly lead to tragic consequences.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on positive news on the Black immigrant communities of the Caribbean and Latin America.
