At Univision town hall, Trump refuses to back off false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in Ohio

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his false claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors’ pets, using a town hall with undecided Latino voters to prop up misinformation that has been rejected by local and statewide leaders from both parties.

Asked by an audience member if he truly believed the story, Trump insisted he was only “saying what was reported.”

“All I do is report,” Trump said, not sharing his sources other than to name “newspapers.” The former president also – again without any evidence – said the migrant community is “eating other things too that they’re not supposed to be.”

His latest incendiary remarks came during a Univision forum in Florida moderated by Mexican journalist Enrique Acevedo. Trump has made inroads with Hispanic voters, but Vice President Kamala Harris still has an advantage – albeit slimmer than Joe Biden’s in 2020 – with that demographic.

Harris, who appeared at her own Univision town hall last week, has repeatedly ripped Trump over the claims about Haitians, saying at a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in September that the former president is “spewing lies grounded in tropes.”

The right-wing misinformation about Haitian people now living in Springfield – legally under Temporary Protected Status – has become a staple of Trump’s dark and often misleading message on immigration. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has also doubled and tripled down on the conspiracy theories – over the objections of his home state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, along with the city’s mayor and police chief.

A barrage of anonymous threats against the city’s Haitian community led local officials to cancel a cultural diversity celebration and DeWine, who in September called the viral story a “piece of garbage” and “simply not true,” eventually called in state police to protect students.

Trump has previously said that the Haitian migrants, despite their protected status under federal law, are “illegal immigrants as far as I’m concerned,” saying he would revoke their status and deport them if he wins another term in November.

The initial question to the former president on Wednesday noted that remark, which like so many others came despite multiple attempts by authorities in Springfield to publicly quash the false claims. Trump did not respond directly, but – after acknowledging he’s never been to the city – said he is planning a visit.

“I’m going to be there and we’re going to take a look,” Trump said, “and I’ll give you a full report when I do.”

Trump said that the migrants are “eating the pets of the people that live there” during a debate with Harris in September. Pressed by the moderator, Trump said he saw people on television who said “their dog was eaten by the people that went there.”

A spokesperson for the City of Springfield told CNN shortly afterward that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”