IN THE FIRST, and perhaps only, US Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, former president Trump turned heads when a put-down regarding his rallies prompted a false claim that immigrants were eating people’s pets.

It’s a claim that had been circulating in some corners of social media and was now repeated in front of an audience of tens of millions.

“In Springfield [Ohio], they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he said. “They’re eating… they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” said Trump.

The claim, which had been made about Haitian immigrants in the city, is not the first time this group has been targeted by the American right.

Trump also previously singled out people from Haiti, which he famously referred to as “a shithole country” in 2018.

According to local news sources, the fake claim about immigrants eating pets began on a local Facebook group, where one poster said that their “neighbour’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat” and later found it in a Haitian neighbour’s garden as it was being prepared to be eaten.

Local police, as well as city and county officials, were quick to point out that there was no evidence to support this claim, and the town’s mayor denounced the story as false.

Mayor Rob Rue told CNN on Sunday that the person who posted the original false claim on Facebook has “said that it was not true and that it was very poor taste and judgement to do it”.

He added that it is “crazy” that he has to keep refuting the false claim and said he has not heard directly from Trump’s running mate and Ohio Senator JD Vance.

Also speaking to CNN on Sunday was Vance, who claimed that his Ohio constituents “brought about approximately a dozen separate concerns to me”.

He claimed that “ten of them are verifiable and confirmable and a couple I talk about because constituents are telling me first hand that they are seeing these things”.

Vance also claimed that “migrants were capturing the geese from the local park pond and eating them” and that there were 911 calls of “people complaining about that exact thing happening”.

However, the CNN host noted that an 11-month review of 911 calls undertaken by Springfield’s Sheriff’s Department identified only two instances of people reporting such incidents, but found no evidence to substantiate the claims.

Vance also told CNN that “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”.

When it was put to Vance that “this is a story you created”, the Ohio Senator replied: “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.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Rue told CNN that it would be “helpful” if people like Trump and Vance “could understand the weight of their words” and warned that it is “causing unrest and a lack of peace”.

Bomb threat

Such false claims about Haitian immigrants are understood to be behind a recent emailed bomb threat against government buildings and a primary school in Springfield.

Last Thursday, Springfield police said that City Hall, several other government buildings, and two primary schools had been evacuated after a bomb threat sent by email at around 8.30am.

Mayor Rob Rue told the Springfield News-Sun that the person who sent the bomb threat claimed to be from the city and mentioned Haitian immigration issues.

None of the threats to date have been legitimate, but security has been enhanced as a precaution to prevent further disruption.

Despite this, Trump doubled down on the rhetoric during a campaign rally also held last Thursday, saying that “migrants are walking off with the town’s geese.”

Trump also claimed Ohio was being “inundated with illegal migrants, mostly from Haiti, who are taking over Towns and Villages at a level and rate never seen before.”

Springfield, with a population of about 58,000, has seen an increase in Haitian immigrants in recent years – 10,000 to 15,000 according to the Springfield News-Sun.

Social services, schools and housing have been stressed in the city for years, with some pointing to migration as a factor.

But Ohio Governor Mike DeWine – a Republican like Trump – gave some context to the situation in Springfield during an interview last week.

DeWine said 15,000 immigrants from Haiti live in Springfield, “a dramatic change” for the city, and added they were there under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows foreign nationals to live and work in the United States.

“Why did they come? They came for jobs,” DeWine told Fox News reporters. ”There’s nothing wrong with us being welcoming.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Rue told CNN Sunday: “We are not ignoring the strain that immigration has put on our community, but we are working as peaceably as possible to have our community secure and safe and thriving and moving forward.”

Elsewhere, Haiti’s government last week said that this is “not the first time that compatriots abroad have fallen victim to disinformation campaigns, been stigmatized and dehumanized to serve electoral political interests”.

“We firmly reject these remarks, which undermine the dignity of our compatriots and could endanger their lives,” it added.

Speaking to CNN, University of Virginia Centre for Politics director Larry Sabato said Trump and Vance have doubled down on the false claim “because it excites his base”.

“There is no issue like the border for them, even more than inflation,” said Sabato.

“Immigration generally gets them up and raring to go and determined to re-elect Donald Trump and that is all that matters to Trump.”

Sabato added that “facts no longer matter” and said: “Even if you present them with volumes of evidence that it isn’t true or it was made up, it’s okay because it serves a larger partisan and it supports the candidate they want to win and the end justifies the means.”

-With additional reporting from Shane Raymond and © AFP 2024