Your pets are safe: Desperate Trump drags viral, fever swamp nonsense onto debate stage

The presidential debate Tuesday had a hinge moment when Vice President Kamala Harris knocked former President Donald Trump completely off his game by mocking the campaign rallies that serve as the primary fuel for his gargantuan yet brittle ego.

Trump's reaction is instructive to the worldview of his reelection campaign and his allies. He swiftly deflected to the latest viral nonsense from the social media fever swamp – this time, that immigrants are abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio – in a frenzied, failing bid to regain control of the conversation.

It didn't matter that the claim had been debunked. Trump thrives on division, and he needed that right then and there as his control of the debate slipped away. He hopes to hoodwink America into thinking that just stepping outside – or, in this case, taking your dog for a walk – is always a dangerous proposition .

Harris could only laugh at him with a "talk about extreme" shrug. That's the worst kind of failure for Trump, but it's not the only kind. He no longer seems able to tell the difference between social media and the real world.

His allies, like running mate JD Vance, have no choice but to go along. That left Sen. Vance of Ohio looking the fool Tuesday as well as he tried in vain to both-sides the bogus claim about Springfield's pets.

Where did the lie about Haitian immigrants start?

Springfield, a town of about 59,000 people about 40 miles west of Columbus, has seen an influx of 15,000 Haitian immigrants since 2020. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who on Tuesday sent law enforcement support to help with traffic issues and health care resources , said the newcomers are generally hardworking.

The bogus claims about local pets got its viral start Friday on the social media site formerly known as Twitter in a post that reposted an allegation from Facebook , attributed to a "neighbor's daughter's friend" about a cat being abducted and eaten.

Say that quoted part aloud – a neighbor's daughter's friend – and ask yourself if that sound credible or if it sounds like the old game of telephone, where disinformation spreads without a speck of proof.

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"They're eating the dogs," Trump insisted about 30 minutes into the 90-minute the debate. "The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating ... the pets of the people that live there."

The allegation has been bandied about by some at Springfield City Commission meetings. Anyone who has ever spent significant time in municipal government meetings knows the public comment portion is often a live action role-playing opportunity for the darkest corners of the internet's comment section.

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An actual source of community concern is Aiden Clark, an 11-year-old boy killed in a 2023 accident when a Haitian immigrant's minivan collided with a school bus. The immigrant, who was in this country legally, was sentenced to prison for that. That tragedy has helped fuel anxiety exploited in the abducted pets absurdity.

The boy's dad, Nathan Clark, now says his family's pain has been "shoved in our faces" by Trump and his allies using his son's death "for political gain."

Speaking Tuesday at a Springfield government meeting before the presidential debate, Clark called out Trump, Vance and other politicians for circulating "untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members."

"This needs to stop," Clark said in video that circulated on social media . "Did you know one of the worst feelings in the world is to not be able to protect your child? Even worse, we can't even protect his memory when he's gone. Please stop the hate."

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On Wednesday, the Springfield News-Sun also reported that local officials could not substantiate a claim called into dispatchers on Aug. 26 that Haitians were seen carrying geese around town. The city manager and law enforcement have said that there was no evidence local pets were being eaten.

The Clark family's wishes should be heeded out of respect for their son. The local officials, who investigated these claims, should be believed when they say there is no evidence.

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But here's the terrible truth – Trump and Vance don't care about any of that. They're just looking to score political points. The truth be damned.

Then a Republican presidential candidate said it on national television

We saw that in real time during the debate. ABC News, with an audience of more than 67 million , had a duty in that moment to fact-check Trump's absurd claims. Moderator David Muir told Trump that the Springfield city manager informed ABC News that there were " no credible reports " to back up the claims.

Trump meekly protested twice that he had seen "people on television" repeating the claims. A former president of the United States brought this foolishness to the debate stage and that's the best he can offer when fact-checked? Pathetic.

Trump had a mission in the debate to define Harris, to cast her to undecided voters as too risky for the presidency. There were actual opportunities to speak to differences in how they would govern. But she made fun of him. So, instead, he just started spouting the most outlandish thing he's seen recently on the internet.

But Trump, by his own policy, is always a victim when things go wrong for him. So cue the howls of outrage from the Republican nominee , his campaign and MAGA allies like Fox News about fact-checking being the latest outrage of injustice heaped upon Trump.

Republicans doubled down in Arizona, posting digital billboards that say "eat less kittens – vote Republican."

But nobody dunked harder on themselves on this than Vance, who in theory was elected to represent all of the people of Springfield, because he's a senator from Ohio. First he pushed the bogus claim on social media Monday. Then he tried to walk that back in a post Tuesday morning , acknowledging that it might not be true.

And then, in the "spin room" after the debate Tuesday night, Vance tried to claim that Springfield officials said "they don't have all the evidence." When pressed on the complete lack of evidence, Vance blamed the news media – which by then had thoroughly checked the allegations – for not checking the allegations.

The GOP vice presidential nominee was showing us what we know to be true from the Trump campaign. Facts won't stand in the way of a divisive story, especially if it can be pushed with a cat meme .

After all, Trump saw it on television. So it must be true, right?

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan .

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Your pets are safe: Desperate Trump drags viral, fever swamp nonsense onto debate stage