We still seem to be a fair distance away from figuring out what really happened earlier this summer when Thomas Crooks shot former President Donald Trump in the ear. Now, however, with the campaign heating up more by the day, Trump's team seems to be wrestling with a different problem. They need to find a way to stop their candidate from shooting himself in the foot (figuratively speaking). Speaking at a campaign stop on Friday, Trump once again raised the specter of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio killing and eating household pets, ducks, geese, and other animals. While these remarks seemed to excite some of the Trump supporters in the area, the legacy media was having a field day shooting down the claims. And for once, they probably had a fair basis for doing so. (National Review)

In a campaign event Friday, Donald Trump vowed to oversee the “largest deportation in the history of our country,” starting in Springfield, Ohio, if he is elected in November.

Springfield was vaulted into the public eye this week when Ohio woman Allexis Telia Ferrell, who is not from Springfield, was allegedly arrested in the county for killing a cat by stomping on its head, after which she ate the animal “in a residential area in front of multiple people,” police said. Canton Police Department spokesman Lt. Dennis Garren said that “we have no reason to believe that [Ferrell] is not a U.S. citizen. She has lived in Canton for quite some time; for sure since she was a juvenile.”

Trump’s campaign nonetheless amplified unverified claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield eat dogs, cats, and geese, posting on social media that “President Trump will deport migrants who eat pets.

In a way, it's understandable how Trump might seek to latch onto the Springfield story because it speaks to an important set of related issues involving illegal migration under the Biden administration and the impact that soaring numbers of migrants can cause, particularly on smaller communities. The problem is that so much of the story has been debunked when you look into the details. The woman who originally claimed to have seen the atrocious sight has already come forward and admitted she made it up, saying that she was shocked at the way the story "just exploded."

Trump could have gotten away with mentioning "rumors" of horrible acts committed by the migrants because many such examples can be readily found. That would be a great spot in the discussion to pivot to how few migrants entered the country on his watch. Trump followed up those comments with a promise, saying, "We will do large deportations in Springfield, Ohio.”

That's a solid line and it definitely amps up the crowd, but Trump also needs to be wary of overpromising and underdelivering. He can sweep into office and sign the same set of executive orders he penned in 2016, working toward more secure borders and ramping up detentions and deportations. But that's not going to happen overnight. Our federal immigration control personnel are overwhelmed and understaffed following nearly four years of having Biden in charge. Sending in a contingent of stormtroopers to Springfield as soon as he is sworn in might be good for a few headlines, but it would also drain needed resources away from border communities and cities where overflowing shelters are creating desperate, dangerous conditions for many.

Immigration issues and the deportation of illegal migrants is a winning issue for Donald Trump. All of the polls reflect this reality and the margins aren't even close. Kamala Harris knows that this is one of her weakest points in the campaign (among many) and she has been forced to flip-flop on her previous positions taken as Joe Biden's border czar. There is simply no reason that Donald Trump shouldn't be running away with this race already, and yet he's not. While I don't expect Trump to sit around waiting for advice from me, a bit more focus on the issues where he is the strongest and a bit less hyperbole revolving around the latest hot rumor percolating in the 24/7 news cycle could potentially go a long way toward locking this race up.