To the editor:

The small city of Springfield, Ohio, has been turned into a target of anti-immigrant hate by Donald Trump and JD Vance, echoed by many of their followers. They spread the vicious lie that Haitian immigrants — who are legally documented and were invited by the town leadership to settle there — are eating  people’s pets.

In a series of pointed comments, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance took aim at their respective opponents during separate visits to the Tarheel state last week, with Walz largely blaming former President Donald Trump for the country’s woes, while Vance continues to target unauthorized migrants. 

Remarks given by Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, stumping for the Democratic presidential ticket during a visit to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, took on a more poignant air due to a tragic coincidence and a surprise guest — suggesting Americans remain especially divided on a controversial issue. 

Editor’s note: “Via Chicago” is Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt’s pop-up daily dispatch from the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Look for a new installment each day this week, through Friday.

Editor’s note: “Via Chicago” is Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt’s pop-up daily dispatch from the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Look for a new installment each day this week, through Friday.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared online at the website “100 Days in Appalachia.” Meredith McCarroll is from Waynesville, went to Appalachian State and the University of Tennessee and resides in Brunswick, Maine. She is author of “Unwhite: Appalachia, Race, and Film” and co-editor of “Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy.”  

Eight days is what it took to shock the world and cast the contentious 2024 Presidential race down untrodden paths.