Donald Trump: Everything we know about his debunked claim immigrants are 'eating pets'

When Donald Trump was president from 2016 to 2020, he repeatedly tried to discredit media that portrayed him or his policies negatively—branding some of their reporting as fake news.

During his 2016 election campaign and throughout his time in office, he referred to reputable news organizations, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, as fake news. According to German media outlet tagesschau.de, he used this term as a tool to undermine the credibility of the media and to mobilize his supporters against them. He often also calls out his opponents for spreading lies.

That being said, Trump himself has been called out on multiple occasions for spreading misinformation. There have been several instances in which he has been fact-checked in this election campaign alone—mainly during both his debates with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He made one of his wildest claims yet on 10 September.

Trump's wild claim

Indeed, while battling it out with his opponent Kamala Harris, in front of millions, on ABC News, Trump shocked the world when he brought up a baseless rumour that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating dogs and other pets. He said when talking about immigration:

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 per NBC News, for several days, this fake news was spreading on social media about Haitian immigrants in Springfield. Even before the TV debate, Trump's supporters had flooded social media platforms with memes of cats and dogs, with captions like 'Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us.' As per CBS News, Senator Ted Cruz and Elon Musk posted about the claims as well.

Trump's running mate, JD Vance, was also one of the first to spread the misinformation. He wrote on X:

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 has been debunked, several times

Given the sheer amount of misinformation that was spreading online, the police clarified in a statement that there were 'no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.'

After Trump made this sensational statement on TV, one of ABC News' debate moderators, David Muir, quickly fact-checked the former president on the spot. He said:

I just want to clarify here. You bring up Springfield, Ohio. 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

This article has been adapted from Ohmymag DE

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Sources used:

tagesschau.de: The master of lies
abcnews.com: Trump pushes false claim that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating pets
t-online.de: Absurd claim by Trump: "They eat pets"

CBS News: Trump pushes baseless claim about immigrants 'eating the pets'

NPR: JD Vance spreads debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets

CNN: ABC debate moderators live fact-checked Trump’s false claims from the stage