Donald Trump goes all in on viral anti-immigrant lie

Less than 30 minutes into the statesmanlike debate, erstwhile president Donald Trump brought up a viral racist prevarication astir Haitian migrants successful Springfield, Ohio — and repeated it aft fact-checkers asserted that it wasn’t true.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the radical that came successful — they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the radical that unrecorded there,” Trump said successful effect to a question astir wherefore helium asked Republican legislators to ballot against a bipartisan borderline information bill. After Trump finished his tirade, ABC News moderator David Muir clarified that Springfield’s metropolis manager told ABC reports of migrants eating pets were mendacious — but Trump repeated the lie. “People connected tv are saying, ‘My canine was taken and being utilized for food,’” Trump interjected.

Trump’s absorption to fact-checking shouldn’t travel arsenic a astonishment by this point. In fact, his run has afloat leaned into the claim, which took disconnected connected right-wing societal media implicit the play has since been mainstreamed by the likes of Elon Musk and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

On Tuesday, vice statesmanlike campaigner JD Vance claimed his bureau had “received galore inquiries from existent residents of Springfield” regarding their pets being eaten, contradicting statements from Springfield constabulary and metropolis officials that they had received nary specified complaints. Though Vance acknowledged the anticipation that “all these rumors volition crook retired to beryllium false,” helium nevertheless encouraged supporters to proceed spreading them. “In short, don’t fto the crybabies successful the media dissuade you, chap patriots,” Vance posted connected X. “Keep the feline memes flowing.”

In the days since the Springfield rumor went viral, Trump’s supporters and run surrogates person embraced it, posting AI-generated images depicting Trump arsenic a champion of America’s pets. The Republican Party of Arizona unveiled a twelve billboards successful the Phoenix country referencing the meme, urging Arizonans to “eat little kittens” and ballot Republican.

These memes person go a ocular shorthand for Trump and his supporters’ content successful the white supremacist large replacement theory. And alternatively than acknowledging the falsehood astatine the bosom of the rumor astir Haitians successful Springfield, Trump’s supporters person suggested that the media’s absorption connected fact-checking the viral prevarication obscures the “replacement” of Americans successful Springfield with Haitian migrants.

Trump, the Republican Party’s standard-bearer, isn’t bothering to obfuscate the baseless claims by tying them to locals’ broader concerns astir immigrants. Instead, he’s going for the baldest mentation of the lie.