A majority of Donald Trump supporters believe the false claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are killing and eating residents’ pets.
According to a YouGov poll, 52 percent of Trump supporters overall believe the debunked lies were true, with 22 percent saying the claims were “definitely true,” and 30 percent said that they were “probably true.”
20 percent of Trump-backers said the claims were “probably false,” and 5 said that they were “definitely false.”
On the other side, 81 percent of Vice-President Kamala Harris voters said the claims about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats were “definitely false,” while 7 percent said they were “probably false.” 4 percent of Harris voters said the claims were “probably true” while no Harris supporter say they were “definitely true”.
Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) amplified the anti-migrant claim alleging that Haitians immigrants in the city of Springfield were abducting and eating residents’ pets last week.
Trump further elevated the claim by repeating it during last Tuesday night’s debate with Harris.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said during the debate to an estimated audience of 67.1 million people.
“They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,”he continued. “And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame. Eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
When moderator David Muir noted that there are no credible reports of such claims, Trump doubled down.
“I’ve seen people on television,” he said. “The people on television claimed, ‘My dog was taken and used for food.’”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and other state and local officials have said there is no evidence to support the claim that Haitian migrants are eating pets.
“This is a piece of garbage that is simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all,” DeWine said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ “Discussion about Haitians eating dogs is just not helpful. And, again, these people are here legally. They’re here legally, and they want to work, and they are, in fact, working.”
Since Tuesday’s debate, there have been a number of bomb threats in Springfield, that led to schools, hospitals and other local businesses being evacuated or going remote.
As the city continues to grapple with the fallout from the racist lie, Vance appeared to take credit for creating the story.
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” Vance told CNN on Sunday. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
The YouGov poll was conducted between Sept. 11-12 among 1,120 adults. It has a margin of error of ±3.8 percentage points.
