Why Does the Governor of Ohio Support the 'Piece of Garbage' MAGA Liars?

Mike DeWine, the mild-mannered avuncular Republican governor of Ohio, told ABC News that the claim made by GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance about Haitians eating pets was “a piece of garbage.” He also criticized Vance for saying that the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were “illegal aliens,” when in fact they are living there legally.

You would think that DeWine might finally have had his fill of the garbage lies, enough so that he’d break with the liars, but you would be wrong.

The headline on his New York Times guest essay Friday (“I’m the Republican Governor of Ohio. Here is the Truth about Springfield”) raises hopes, until we read the fine print.

You would think that DeWine might finally have had his fill of the garbage lies, enough so that he'd break with the liars, but you would be wrong.

DeWine gushes about how much he and his wife adore Springfield and its people, and how these wonderful, hard-working immigrants from Haiti are helping to rebuild a town that was fading away economically. DeWine comes across as a caring, honest, God-fearing man who by all rights should absolutely detest anyone who so willfully lied about the town he grew up in and these hard-working immigrants who are revitalizing it.

But just when you think he’s about to break with the liars he expresses his support for them, explaining how they are just making a tactical error: “As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield. This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there…. [T]heir verbal attacks against these Haitians – who are legally in the United States – dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border.”

Is there any lie that Trump/Vance could tell that might turn DeWine into a former supporter?

The Ohio governor, who ran nine points ahead of Vance in their 2022 statewide elections, may soon be tested by the orange emperor-in-exile, who always demands fealty. To be sure, Trump’s political tacticians will tell him to ignore the critique, but Trump may decide that DeWine needs an attitude adjustment. In Trump’s warped brain a strong leader brooks no criticism without firing back even harder. If Trump acts like Trump, DeWine might have “piece of garbage” lies headed his way.

As far as I know, no other current Republican officeholder above the city level in Springfield has dared to offer such a scathing critique of the shameless lies about the Haitians. The last time we heard such criticisms from Republican leaders was after January 6th, and all those who had harsh words for Trump then either have left office, recanted, or gone silent. Today, lying about Haitians seems like a small price to pay to stay in Trump’s good graces. It’s one thing for Dick and Liz Chaney to take him on, but it’s quite another for any Republican who plans to hold office while Trump still commands his base.

For those hoping for a Trump defeat, it would be best for Trump to be Trump and mercilessly rip into DeWine, forcing the governor either to fall to his knees in supplication or walk away. But even if attacked, does DeWine have the guts to walk away from the shameless liars?

The jury is out. So far Springfield’s most famous citizen has shown that he has enough gumption to critique the “piece of garbage” lies about his hometown, but nowhere near enough to take on the liars who spew them.

That seems to count for heroism in today’s cowered Republican party.