Former President Donald Trump during his Tuesday debate against Vice President Kamala Harris amplified a false claim that migrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, despite local officials saying there's no evidence to back the claim.
In answering a question about immigration, Trump mentioned Springfield and Aurora, Colorado, claiming local leaders aren't vocal about apparent migrant problems, including what he claimed were immigrants abducting and eating pets.
"A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats," Trump said. "They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame."
ABC News debate moderator David Muir then said Springfield's city manager had debunked the claims, saying there have been "no credible reports or claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Trump then replied, "We'll find out," before Harris said, "Talk about extreme," and laughed at her competitor's comments.
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The former president's remarks echo an allegation his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, pushed in a post on X, saying his office "received many inquiries" from Springfield residents who have said their pets were "abducted by Haitian migrants." Vance also said in the post that it's "possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false," before claiming, among other statements, that Haitian migrants have caused diseases like tuberculosis and HIV to rise.
While some on social media cited the rumors as racist, others, including Trump's Republican allies, helped them gain viral attention. For example, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted a photo of kittens with the caption, "Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us."
But the conspiracy theory's presence on social media has also been linked to a Sept. 6 Facebook post that was later shared on X in which someone claimed their neighbor's daughter's friend's cat was seen at a house "where Haitians live," hanging from a tree and about to be eaten. The post's author said immigrants were doing the same to dogs, ducks and geese and included a photo of a Black man apparently carrying a dead goose by its feet.
Per Scripps News' partner Politifact, the Facebook post was flagged as an unfounded claim by Meta, which is working to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.
Still, Trump followed his supporters' social media posts on the claims with two of his own. Hours before the debate, one AI-generated photo he shared on Truth Social showed himself surrounded by cats and geese on his plane and another featuring a cat wearing a MAGA hat and holding a gun.
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In addition to Heck's comment about the rumors, Springfield police told the Springfield News-Sun on Monday that they have received no reports related to the claim of abducted or eaten pets. Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine did not comment on the allegations during a press conference Tuesday.
While it's true the Haitian immigrant population has grown in Springfield in recent years, the city has said about 15,000 Haitians live there under federal protection temporarily. The city also says the immigrants work in various industries there "that are in great need of workers" or have opened their own businesses.
The Trump camp's rhetoric surrounding the Haitian immigrant population there, however, has reignited debate within the city. At various city commission meetings there, some residents have claimed to have seen Haitian immigrants abusing animals, though they haven't provided evidence. At another meeting, the father of an 11-year-old Ohio boy who was killed last year when a Haitian immigrant struck him with his minivan said Republicans like Trump and Vance were "morally bankrupt politicians" using his son's death as a political tool.
Additional reporting from our fact-checking partner PolitiFact.
