Former President Donald Trump went on a bizarre rant during the ABC News debate Tuesday night when he claimed that undocumented migrants are eating cats and dogs in Ohio – leading to a fact-check from moderator David Muir.
Over the last few days, the Trump campaign has promoted a false rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets. The former president even promoted the claim via social media by reposting AI images of him defending cats and ducks.
According to the Associated Press, there’s no evidence that Haitian immigrants in the Ohio community are harming or eating the animals in question.
During the debate, Trump brought up the topic after claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris would turn the U.S. into a third-world country:
TRUMP: In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. 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. As far as the rallies are concerned, as far as the reason they go, is they like what I say. They want to bring our country back. They want to make America great again. Very simple phrase, make America great again. She’s destroying this country. And if she becomes president, this country doesn’t have a chance of success. Not only success we’ll end up being Venezuela on steroids.
MUIR: I just want to clarify here. You bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.
The rumor about Haitian immigrants allegedly stealing pets and eating them seems to have originated with right-wing accounts spinning a Fox News report about an Ohio woman who was arrested in August for allegedly killing and eating a cat.
Watch above, via ABC.
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