Why Trump says immigrants eat pets in Springfield

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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump made a shocking claim during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris: that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping and eating people’s pets. The claim has since been the subject of intense controversy. But how did Trump come to believe this rumor, and why does his campaign continue to defend what he said at the debate?

background

Immigration has been at the heart of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement since its inception in 2015. Trump and his allies have repeatedly spread negative stories about immigrants, including so-called Migrant caravans as they make their way through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. southern border and crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, whom Trump calls “Migrant crime“Depicting the situation at the southern border as chaotic and dangerous has been a central part of Trump’s political strategy for nearly a decade.

Immigration is particularly important to Trump’s 2024 campaign, as well as Republican prospects generally. The public has been consistent and sharp disapproved about the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border and immigration. An AP-NORC poll in August, for example, found that voters trusted Trump more than Harris to handle immigration by a margin of 46-36%, consistent with other polls showing a modest but consistent advantage Republicans show on this issue. The Trump campaign has tried to tie both legal and illegal immigration to everything from housing costs to inflation and wages.

What’s wrong with Springfield?

However, none of this background fully explains why the former president is fixated on an unfounded rumor about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Springfield, a community of about 60,000 people half an hour from the city of Dayton, has become a destination for Haitians residing legally in the United States, many under the Biden administration Expansion 2021 from Temporary protection status (TPS) to the citizens of the country. Republicans opposed this policy and looked for ways to attack Democrats for pursuing this policy.

The claim that Haitian immigrants ate pets in Springfield appears to be true emerged with a Facebook post that was then amplified on X by social media influencers like conservatives Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec. The original Facebook post appears to be based on claims made by a local extremist at a public meeting with city officials. The presence of conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer on Trump’s plane on debate day may also have had an impact Trump’s willingness assert the claim publicly.

Republican-affiliated figures like Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute make a call on grill a chicken. “A city spokesman and Springfield police said they had not received any credible reports of pets being kidnapped and eaten by the immigrants,” fact-checking website Politifact said filed the complaint a review of “Pants on Fire,” meaning they thought it was completely untrue.

The Trump campaign’s strategy

Some analysts believe Trump’s inflammatory claim was part of a strategy to keep immigration at the center of the election. What Trump and Vance are doing is “using a practical story with a lot of momentum behind it, essentially a viral moment, to draw attention to the broader issue of immigration,” Northwestern University historian Kathleen Belew said in an interview with The New Yorker. The story was “an effective act of misdirection,” said Bloomberg’s Joshua Green.

The campaign said it was using the story to draw attention to immigration issues that the media too often ignores. The claim “comes from first-hand accounts from my constituents,” vice presidential candidate JD Vance told CNN. “I say that we are ‘creating a story,’ which means we are creating the American media that focuses on it.” Critics suggested that Vance admitted the story was a hoax, while supporters noted that that he merely attributed the rumor to the residents of Springfield.