Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) debunked a conspiracy theory pushed by Donald Trump and JD Vance alleging that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating people’s 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.”
Local officials in Springfield have also debunked the claim, yet Trump repeated it on stage during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
Since Tuesday’s debate, there have been a number of bomb threats in Springfield, that led to the closing of municipal building, schools, hospitals and other local businesses.
“This discussion just has to stop,” DeWine said. “We need to focus on moving forward and not dogs and cats being eaten. It’s just ridiculous.”
Despite the denial from local officials Trump, Vance and MAGA activists have largely continued to promote the lie.
In fact, in a shocking admission on CNN Sunday, 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 said. “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.”
