Trump Melts Down, Lies About Migrants Eating Cats After Harris Trolls Him
In the span of a few days, a racist smear against migrants of color made it from the fever swamps of the online right to the national presidential debate. On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump accused Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, of killing and eating pets in the community during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The rant came after Harris trolled Trump about his rallies, encouraging Americans to listen to him talk about Hannibal Lecter, and spout windmill conspiracies to followers who leave early out of boredom. Trump couldn’t help but defend himself, and he baselessly accused Harris of paying people to attend her rallies. He then frantically pivoted to immigration — to put it kindly.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats,” Trump ranted. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country.”
ABC host David Muir made a point to fact-check Trump in real-time. “ABC News did reach out to the city manager [in Springfield]. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” Muir said.
Trump countered that he had “seen people on television.”
“People on television say my dog was taken and used for food,” he added. It’s unclear what reports the former president was referencing.
Since the pandemic, as many as 20,000 Haitians have immigrated legally to Springfield to work in factories and warehouses. For days now, Republicans — including Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance — have been pushing a racist lie accusing Haitian migrants of eating cats, ducks, and other pets in Springfield.
Springfield police have said they have not received any reports of such events, and city engagement manager Karen Graves said “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
According to two sources close to Trump, the former president was advised in recent days that, if it came up during the Philly debate, he should pivot to the story of an 11-year-old boy, Aiden Clark, who was killed during a highly publicized auto collision, in which the driver was a Haitian immigrant.
“That hits parents watching [the debate] in the gut a lot harder than the cats stuff,” one of the sources said earlier on Tuesday.
However, during that portion of the presidential debate, Trump stuck to what he knows: internet-brained disinformation and viral content.
Nathan Clark, Aidan’s father, has made clear that he disagrees with the political exploitation of his son’s death. “Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose,” Clark said during a speech before the Springfield City Commission on Tuesday.
??“This needs to stop now,” Clark added. “I will listen to them one more time to hear their apologies.”
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