Trump makes unfounded claim in debate that immigrants “eat pets”

During the presidential debate on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump made the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating dogs and other pets.

“They're eating the dogs, the people that came here, they're eating the cats,” Trump said in response to a question about immigration. “They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and that's what's happening in our country, and it's a disgrace.”

Trump's response was one of the most extraordinary of the first 30 minutes of the debate: a former US president spreading an internet rumor – which some of his critics called racist – in front of an audience of millions. The comment illustrated the rapid spread of misinformation in today's media ecosystem.

ABC News anchor David Muir, who co-moderated the debate, was quick to fact-check Trump's claims, saying the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, told the network that there were no credible reports of immigrants' pets being injured or mistreated in the city.

For days, unsubstantiated rumors have been circulating on social media that Haitian immigrants are kidnapping and eating pets in Ohio. Most of the rumors center around Springfield, where many Haitian immigrants live, but police there released a statement Monday refuting the stories and saying they have not seen any documented examples. “There are no credible reports or specific allegations that pets have been harmed or mistreated by individuals from the immigrant community,” police said in a statement.

Republicans such as Republican vice presidential candidate and Senator JD Vance of Ohio have cited the allegations as evidence that immigrants are causing chaos. But Vance qualified that in a statement on X on Tuesday: “It is of course possible that all of these rumors turn out to be false.”

The claims about the pets were based in part on vague social media posts, including a fourth-hand story posted in a local crime Facebook group, and statements at public meetings where residents spoke about violence against animals without providing evidence.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue reiterated Tuesday that there have been no documented cases of immigrants eating pets in the city.

“Rumors like this distract from the real problems, such as concerns about housing, the need for funding for our schools and our overburdened health care system,” he said at a city commission meeting.

Rue said an alleged case in which someone attacked a cat – falsely attributed to a Haitian immigrant from Springfield – actually occurred 160 miles away in Canton, Ohio. And the defendant charged with animal cruelty there has no known connection to Haiti, according to The Canton Repository newspaper.

The issue of immigration took center stage at Tuesday's Springfield City Council meeting. Local resident Nathan Clark, whose 11-year-old son died last year when a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant struck his school bus, condemned Republican politicians who used his late son Aiden as a “political tool” to stoke hatred against immigrants.

Immigration is a sensitive issue for the president. In an NBC News poll in April, 22 percent of voters said immigration and the border were the most important issue facing the country, surpassed only by inflation and the cost of living at 23 percent.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby called the allegations about Haitians in Ohio a dangerous conspiracy theory that could incite violence against immigrants.

“There are going to be people who believe it, no matter how ridiculous and stupid it is, and they might act on that information in a way that could harm someone,” Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump's comments about pets were just one of numerous claims and allegations based on rumors and conspiracy theories.

In an exchange on immigration, Trump referred to false rumors that a Venezuelan gang had occupied an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado – claims that were refuted by local authorities and widely reported in right-wing media outlets.

Then, in a series of statements before the second commercial break, Trump alluded to conspiracy theories about the influence of foreign money on the Biden administration.

“You know, Biden is not going after people because China allegedly paid millions of dollars,” he said. “He's afraid of it — he and his son together are getting all this money from Ukraine. They're getting all this money from all these different countries. And then you wonder why he's so loyal to this and that, Ukraine, China? Why did he get $3.5 million from the wife of the mayor of Moscow? Why did she pay him $3.5 million? This is a corrupt government, and they're selling out our country.”

But none of these claims appear to be based on fact. The most concrete point appears to be the debunked claim that Hunter Biden received $3.5 million from the wife of the former mayor of Moscow. This claim was included in a Republican report, but without any evidence.