Why have Trump and Vance doubled down on their false narratives about immigrants ‘eating pets’? [Video]

IN THE FIRST, and perhaps only, US Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, former president Trump turned heads when a put-down regarding his rallies prompted a false claim that immigrants were eating people’s pets.

Associated Press / YouTube

It’s a claim that had been circulating in some corners of social media and was now repeated in front of an audience of tens of millions.

“In Springfield [Ohio], they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he said. “They’re eating… they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” said Trump.

The claim, which had been made about Haitian immigrants in the city, is not the first time this group has been targeted by the American right.

Trump also previously singled out people from Haiti, which he famously referred to as “a shithole country” in 2018.

According to local news sources, the fake claim about immigrants eating pets …