Are Haitian Immigrants Eating Springfield's Pets? The 2024 Presidential Debate Breaks From Reality
‘In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs… They’re eating the cats… they’re eating the pets’, Trump delivers comedy gold, in Tuesday night’s first presidential debate
Published in
5 min readSep 12, 2024
A bizarre false statement by Donald Trump about illegal immigrants in Springfield “eating the pets of the people that live there” has seen a frenzy of Simpsons memes on social media.
In the days preceding the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump supporters propagated unsubstantiated reports concerning Haitian immigrants eating pets in the central-Ohio town of Springfield.Despite the claims, authorities in Springfield have said that the arrivals of the Caribbean migrants had boosted the local economy.Donald Trump responded with inventive gusto to the question regarding immigration and Harris saying Trump had killed the border security bill the US Senate came up with as he was asked:
“why did you try to kill that bill and successfully so? That would have put thousands of additional agents and officers on the border.”Trump after a small tirade on rallies and still failing to address the question went on to say “What have we done to our country” by allowing the “millions and millions of people” to come in.
“A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame.”The debate moderator David Muir clarified that ABC News had reached out to the city manager in Springfield, Ohio and stated:
“there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community”Trump continued to protest how he had “seen people on television” and that:
“The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food.”Muir again reiterated that:
“the Springfield city manager says there's no evidence of that.”Kamala Harris found Trump's response to be “extreme” and responded by saying:
“this is I think one of the reasons why in this election I actually have the endorsement of 200 Republicans”.She added:
“And if you want to really know the inside track on who the former president is, if he didn't make it clear already, just ask people who have worked with him. His former chief of staff, a four-star general, has said he has contempt for the constitution of the United States. His former national security adviser has said he is dangerous and unfit. His former secretary of defense has said the nation, the republic would never survive another Trump term.”Trump merely shrugged off Harris's comments by claiming he had “fired most of those people”.
The recent race riots sparked in the UK by the spread of false information on social media, just shows how dangerous it can be to allow misinformation to snowball. This is especially when tensions are already raw and igniting the fire with more fuel can have catastrophic results.
Senator JD Vance, on September 9, shared a clip on X of himself addressing “the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants”, accusing them of “draining social services and generally causing chaos in Springfield, Ohio.”
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
It is also dehumanising for the persons being targeted.According to The Haitian Times, Haitian families and immigrants in Ohio are “under attack” both online and offline with the rapid spread of these racist claims. People are living in fear and are anxious to leave their homes or send their children to school.The 2020 census recorded almost over 58,000 residents in Springfield and city officials have estimated 20,000 Haitians have arrived to the town in recent years for job opportunities, especially since the pandemic.According to the city manager, Bryan Heck, the arrival of the Haitians was lawful.Although the Haitian influx has impacted local facilities such as affordable housing, schools and healthcare, the Haitians have revitalised the city by taking the blue-collar jobs.Tensions became inflamed after a bus crash led to the death of one child, caused by a car driven by a Haitian man.On August 16 a claim pertaining to a Haitian woman eating a cat was debunked. Allexis Ferrell, a 27-year-old woman from Canton, Ohio was arrested and charged with animal cruelty as police officers alleged that she smashed the cat's head by stomping on it with her foot and proceeded to eat the cat.Misinformation online soon spread that she was a Haitian immigrant. She was however born in Canton, Ohio and was an American citizen. The case became prime fodder for the online presidential campaign and had no relation to the claims made about Springfield.Springfield police issued a statement on Tuesday with a spokesperson asserting:
“In response to recent rumours alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Finally, the debate was a success for Harris on the whole, as soon afterwards pop icon Taylor Swift also endorsed Harris on Instagram with a photo of herself and a cat, signing the post “Childless Cat Lady”.
