Rumors that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio has taken over the news cycle in the last week. Although it was been debunked by local authorities as soon as they spread last Monday, several conservative personalities like Elon Musk and Ted Cruz have propelled them to virality, hitting the primetime and dominating the news cycle after Republican candidate Donald Trump mentioned them in last Tuesday's debate.
Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance has played a key role in the spreading of the rumors. Since his first claims, however, Trump's running mate has been ambivalent about the subject. The day of the debate he backtracked on his original comments by saying that "it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false."
Vance was grilled again on the issue by CNN's Dana Bash over the weekend. He doubled down on the Springfield accusations and offered a glimpse into how his campaign plans to "create stories" to push its anti-immigrant narrative.
The revealing exchange took place when Bash asked Vance to support his claims about Haitian immigrants, to which the Ohio senator answered:
"The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do."
Bash replied by pointing out the obvious: "you just said that this is a story that you created." Vance answered back, defiantly:
"It comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that we're creating a story, meaning we're creating the American media focusing on it. I didn't create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield thanks to Kamala Harris' policies. Her policies did that. But yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by Kamala Harris' policies."
JD Vance in responding to question on CNN this AM about dog & cat eating in Springfield, Ohio "If I have to I "create stories" so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do..."pic.twitter.com/aO6oG7fYqq
— ًً (@politicalplayer) September 15, 2024
The city of Springfield notes on its website that approximately 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County, and that Haitian immigrants are there legally as part of a parole program that allows citizens and lawful residents to apply to have their family members from Haiti come to the United States.
On Sunday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, flatly denied the pet-eating rumors during an interview on ABC's "This Week":
"This is a piece of garbage that is simply not true. There's no evidence of this at all. Discussion about Haitians eating dogs is just not helpful. And, again, these people are here legally. They're here legally, and they want to work, and they are, in fact, working."
Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine defends Haitian immigrants in Springfield from false claims that they are eating neighbors' pets.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 15, 2024
"This is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There's no evidence of this at all." https://t.co/M2kszhCdbY pic.twitter.com/8aRrahDpJb
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue also addressed the issue, expressing concern about the spread of false information and the resulting threats against local officials, adding that it would be helpful if politicians who amplified plainly untrue rumors "understood the weight of their words", according to CNN.
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