JD Vance Calls on Fans to Keep Pushing Debunked Migrant Smear Despite Possibility ‘Rumors Will Turn Out To Be False’

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance urged his followers on Tuesday to continue sharing memes accusing Haitian migrants of eating household pets – a roundly debunked claim recently spread by Vance, the Trump 2024 campaign, and MAGA influencers.

Vance posted to X on Monday, saying, “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

The claim spread quickly across social media as the likes of Elon Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and the House GOP Judiciary Committee all made the baseless claims attacking the migrants. The Trump-Vance campaign sent out a fundraising email saying, “Migrants have reportedly been caught “decapitating ducks” and hunting geese and other livestock in public parks — and even kidnapping residents’ pets — then eating them.”

The prevalence of the claims led both the Springfield Police Division and the City of Springfield to release statements saying they had no reports of any such incidents.

Vance on Tuesday took to X and noted that it’s “possible” that “these rumors will turn out to be false,” but urged his followers to continue to smear the migrants as pet eaters.

“In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” Vance wrote, adding:

Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here. That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases–like TB and HIV–have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head.

Vance followed up that post by writing, “In short, don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing.”

Springfield, Ohio has seen an influx of legal Haitian migrants who have come into the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program as Haiti has been rocked by violence. Civil rights attorney Erik Crew told the Hill that claims of migrants eating household pets “is the same old anti-Black playbook that we’ve seen for hundreds of years in Ohio being rolled out to divide and create hate, especially around election times.”

Leann Castillo, the executive director for the Clark County Park District, spoke to the New York Times about the claims of migrants eating animals in the parks and said there is “absolutely no evidence of this happening.” Castillo added that the baseless claims has spread for months in the city and that “random people will call and ask” about if it’s real. The claims drew national attention after residents spoke at a public meeting and said they had heard stories about migrants eating pets and other animals.

The Times concluded, “The false claims being promoted by the Trump campaign tapped into old racist stereotypes that have been directed at immigrants, accusing them of abducting and killing animals to cook and eat or, in the case of Haitian migrants, using them in religious sacrifices.”

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