WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — A false claim about immigrants eating pets in Ohio is getting national attention after former President Donald Trump brought it up on the debate stage.
It all started earlier this week with an online rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people’s pets. Republican officials began sharing that claim, despite city officials insisting there’s no evidence to support it.
“We have not been able to verify any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said.
During Tuesday night’s ABC News debate in an answer to a question about border policy, former President Donald Trump repeated the false claim.
“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,” Trump said.
The moderators pushed back, noting that the claim has been debunked and gave Vice President Kamala Harris a chance to respond.
“I mean, talk about extreme,” Harris said.
The White House called the claim another racist conspiracy theory.
“This kind of disinformation is, is dangerous,” White House National Security Council advisor John Kirby said.
George Washington University Professor Neil Johnson is a researcher with a lab that tracks online discussions.
“I think it’s because it’s so bizarre that it spread so quickly,” Johnson said about the rumor.
He says the concern is that a claim like that is tough to dispel once it’s circulated.
“In a way it doesn’t matter how much you fact check it. People can’t unhear it, that’s the damage,” Johnson said.
While Johnson expected this particular rumor will fade, he says the bigger problem with misinformation is that it adds up.
“We’re going to get a lot of those kind of little stories that will bubble up and erode our trust,” Johnson said. “I think that that’s something that we have to be each individually careful of.”
