JD Vance defends Donald Trump’s claim about migrants eating pets in Ohio

JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate for the presidential race, said on Sunday that he stands by the Republican presidential candidate’s false claim that migrants were eating pets in Ohio.
In an interview with CNN, Vance, a senator from Ohio and the vice-presidential nominee, claimed he has “first-hand accounts from my constituents” to support the allegations. He asserted that he was willing “to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention.”
“I’ve been trying to talk about the problems in Springfield for months. The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. 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 New York Times quoted Vance as saying.
In the first presidential debate with Democratic rival Kamala Harris on September 10, Trump claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets, affirming his anti-immigrant stance. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said.
His claims were debunked by many, including Ohio officials, who said there was no evidence of such acts by the immigrants.
Even before the presidential debate, the Republican camp had been spreading the same narrative. Vance himself had posted on social media, claiming that his office had “received many enquiries” about Haitian migrants abducting pets.
However, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who is also a Republican, rejected these claims. He said the notion that migrants were eating pets was “a piece of garbage that was simply not true.” While acknowledging there had been some “challenges” in accommodating the large number of migrants, DeWine said they were there legally and had economically benefited Springfield.
Meanwhile, on September 13, Trump pledged to conduct mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from the Ohio city of Springfield if he comes to power after the November election.