JD Vance Accused of Spreading Untrue Pet-Eating Rumors About Haitian Immigrants!

JD Vance, the U.S. vice-presidential candidate, along with other Republicans, including members of Congress and Elon Musk, the billionaire proprietor of the X social media platform, faced severe criticism on Monday. They were accused of propagating baseless rumors that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio town were killing and consuming pets and park wildlife.

Vance, who also serves as the junior U.S. senator from Ohio,
posted on X—previously known as Twitter—on Monday, stating, “A few months back, I brought up the issue of unauthorized Haitian immigrants overburdening social services and generally creating havoc throughout Springfield, Ohio.”

He further stated, “Current reports reveal that individuals who shouldn’t even be in this country have abducted and consumed people’s pets. Where is our border control?”

Haitians were also accused of killing and eating ducks and geese in the city’s Snyder Park. However, a photo
that supposedly depicted a Haitian immigrant carrying a dead bird down a Springfield street was, in reality, a picture of an American taken in Columbus, Ohio—almost 50 miles away.

The rumor about the cat originated around 100 miles away in Canton, Ohio, where an American woman suffering from mental illness was
arrested the previous month for allegedly killing and eating a cat.

In a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in July, Vance read a letter from Bryan Heck, the Republican Springfield City Manager. The letter outlined the challenges municipal officials face while trying to accommodate thousands of Haitian immigrants.

The letter did not mention any instances of Haitians eating pets. Both Heck and the Springfield police have
denied such rumors.

“There have been no credible reports or specific accusations of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals in the immigrant community,” Heck
informedThe Hill. “Moreover, there have been no confirmed instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes.”

By the time mainstream media began to debunk the rumor, it had already spread widely. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
posted a meme featuring two frightened kittens with the caption, “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”

Meanwhile, Musk
shared an AI-created meme posted by House Judiciary Committee Republicans depicting Trump hugging animals with the caption, “Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!”

Numerous observers responded with revulsion to the Republicans spreading the rumor.

“In the world of MAGA, the alleged pet-eating is already accepted as truth, and Republican elected officials, including Vance, are rushing to exploit it as a significant issue for likes and followers,”
notedWashington Post columnist Philip Bump.

“This is one of the main reasons why Vance and others on the right are often labeled as ‘odd,'” Bump added. “There’s an online sphere where things are blown out of proportion because it’s rewarded. But when these obsessions and claims are presented to the general public, they don’t stand up to scrutiny. What can one do but marvel at how peculiar everything is?”

Erik Crew, a staff attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group,
toldThe Hill that “this is the same old anti-Black playbook that we’ve seen for hundreds of years in Ohio being used to sow division and hatred, especially around election times.”

Crew continued:

White supremacist and antidemocratic movements have always used the claim that so-called Black savages are coming to destroy, especially when political power is up for grabs. This is no different. This time they are saying it is Haitians, and this time it is being used to try to score political points around immigration as well.

The truth is, Haitian immigrants have been coming to Springfield seeking to contribute to U.S. democracy and the economy, and Springfield and Ohio will benefit from that, just like U.S. communities have benefited in the past from the contributions of Black immigrants.

“The truth is the rumors about Haitians in Springfield and pets have already been debunked, but we won’t stop hearing them because certain people will want to keep spreading them as the election approaches,” he added.

Dave Zirin, sports editor at
The Nation, was more direct in his response.

“You are a racist piece of shit,” he
wrote to Vance on X. “You lie like Trump without an ounce of his distorted charisma.”