JD Vance Stands By False Pet-Eating Claims Roiling Ohio City After Mr. Vance and former President Donald J. Trump amplified false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets, the city received numerous bomb threats.

 

''JD Vance Stands By False Pet-Eating Claims Roiling Ohio City''

After Mr. Vance and former President Donald J. Trump amplified false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets, the city received numerous bomb threats.

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, stood firm on Sunday regarding the controversial and false claims that he and former President Donald J. Trump have propagated, alleging that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are consuming pets. These unfounded allegations have led to multiple bomb threats against the Springfield community since their emergence.

JD Vance in New York City last week.

In an appearance on CNN, Vance defended the claims, which have been thoroughly debunked by Springfield city officials. He asserted that the allegations were based on “firsthand accounts from my constituents” and lashed out at interviewer Dana Bash for her fact-checking efforts. Vance labeled Bash a “Democratic propagandist” for linking his and Trump’s statements to the recent threats against the town.

“I’ve been highlighting the issues in Springfield for months,” Vance said during the interview. “The American media only took notice when Donald Trump and I began discussing these cat memes. If creating stories is what it takes to get the media to focus on American suffering, then so be it.”

When Bash pointed out that Vance had used the term “creating” in reference to these stories, Vance clarified, “I mean that we’re creating a narrative that forces the American media to pay attention.”

The erroneous claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield gained widespread traction after Vance was the first notable national figure to endorse them last week, spreading them across social media platforms. The Trump campaign quickly picked up on the narrative, with Trump himself repeating the claims to a massive audience during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

During the CNN interview, Bash highlighted that Springfield city officials had publicly requested that national figures like Vance and Trump cease their disparaging rhetoric about the migrants. The mayor of Springfield, Rob Rue, expressed frustration with the negative portrayal, telling local news station WSYX, “These federal politicians who have spun our city in a negative light need to realize that their words are causing real harm. It is their rhetoric that is hurting our community.”

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican, also addressed the situation on ABC News, denouncing the pet-eating claims as “a piece of garbage that was simply not true.” DeWine acknowledged that while there are challenges in accommodating thousands of migrants, their presence has been beneficial to Springfield’s economy. “The challenges are real,” he conceded, “but the economic contributions of these migrants have been a positive force for our community.”

Despite the widespread rejection of the pet-eating claims and the official responses from local leaders, the controversy continues to stir tensions in Springfield and beyond, underscoring the broader issues of misinformation and its impact on communities.