AZGOP puts up billboards highlighting unfounded rumors of Haitian immigrants eating pets

The Arizona Republican Party is touting its new billboard campaign spreading a baseless rumor promoted by GOP leaders — including former President Trump during Tuesday night's debate — that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating people's pets.

The big picture: The AZGOP announced Tuesday it put up 12 billboards in the Phoenix metro area ahead of Trump's visit to Tucson on Thursday.

• The billboards imitate Chick-fil-A's iconic advertising, feature four kittens wearing cow costumes and have the slogan "Eat less kittens, vote Republican!"

Catch up quick: The billboards reference unfounded rumors that have spread online in recent days that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting and eating people's pets and wildlife from local parks.

• Police in Springfield, which has seen an influx of as many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants over the past few years, say they've received " no credible reports " of people harming pets.
• The Springfield News-Sun reported that a post on a local Facebook group went viral after someone "claimed that their neighbor's daughter's friend" discovered her missing cat being carved up at a Haitian neighbor's home. The post claimed no firsthand knowledge of the incident.
• Despite the lack of evidence, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has promoted the claims and Trump repeated them during Tuesday's debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, proclaiming: "They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats."

State of play: The AZGOP said in a press statement Tuesday morning it put up the billboards "due to recent shocking reports from Ohio where Haitian migrants have been allegedly caught eating house pets, ducks and other animals off the streets."

• The party said the billboards were meant to call attention to the "urgent need for border security and the dangers of unchecked illegal immigration."
• A Springfield city website states the Haitian immigrants are in the country legally under the Immigration Parole Program, a federal humanitarian program.

What they're saying: The Biden administration condemned the rumors , saying Tuesday they divide people, are based on lies and "an element of racism," and could cause people to get hurt if someone acts on the baseless information.

Zoom in: Former Arizona GOP chair Robert Graham told Axios the billboards are a "complete waste of money" because few voters are familiar with the rumors in the first place.

• "When you're in election time you're trying to inspire people to vote for your candidate, not make them solve a puzzle," Graham said. "Republicans have a healthy message, or could have — it's jobs, opportunity, prosperity, safety. We believe Republican governing principles are the best. We don't need to put cow suits on the words."
• Graham, who partially lived in Haiti for 11 years, said he didn't think most people would find the billboards offensive, though, "I would take offense if I was Haitian, for sure."

The other side: Jonathan Lines, also a former AZGOP chair, called the billboards "tongue in cheek."

AZGOP chair Gina Swoboda and a spokesperson for the party didn't respond to inquiries from Axios.