Sen. JD Vance on Sunday again claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating local pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The state’s Republican governor said the claim was “garbage.”
The Ohio Republican and vice-presidential candidate repeated the assertion during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, just days after former President Donald Trump amplified it nationally during a televised presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vance said the claims were based on “firsthand accounts from my constituents” and that American media had ignored his attempts to discuss the “problems in Springfield for months.”
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” he 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.”
When Bash asked Vance to clarify his remark about having to “create stories,” Vance doubled down.
“Dana, it comes from first-hand accounts of my constituents,” Vance said. …