Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought up the so far unsubstantiated claim that Haitian immigrants are "eating the pets" in Springfield, Ohio, during Tuesday night's debate with Kamala Harris.
Trump was making a point about illegal immigration under the Harris-Biden administration when he turned the spotlight on an issue in Springfield that was first amplified by his running mate and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
"A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, 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," Trump said.
ABC News moderator David Muir informed Trump that "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."
"Well, I've seen people on television ... say my dog was taken and used for food. So maybe he said that and maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager," Trump added.
According to the New York Post, the topic of Haitians eating animals first surfaced at a Springfield City Commission meeting last month, when a 28-year-old man said Haitian migrants were beheading ducks at local parks and taking them home to eat. Also, a video went viral showing a woman — not a Haitian — stomping on a cat and devouring it. She was arrested in Canton, three hours away.
Regardless, Vance then posted it to his social media on Monday.
"People have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," Vance posted to X.
But city officials have that that issue is "not something that on our radar right now."
Trump gave Harris an opening.
"I mean, you talk about extreme," she said, laughing.
"You know, I, this is, I think, one of the reasons why in this election, I actually have the endorsement of 200 Republicans who have formally worked with [former] President [George] Bush, [Utah Sen.] Mitt Romney, and [former Arizona Sen.] John McCain, including the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney and [former Wyoming] Congress member Liz Cheney. And if you want to really know the inside track on who the former president is, if he didn't make it clear already, just ask people who have worked with him."