Donald Trump falsely claims immigrants are eating dogs and cats – and the memes are sublime
In the Presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed: “They’re eating the dogs.” The internet was quick to respond. (Getty/Fox)
Disgraced former President Donald Trump has been widely mocked after he falsely claimed Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are abducting and eating pets.
On Tuesday (10 September) the first, and probably only, Presidential debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris resulted in Trump devolving into a rambling monologue where he amplified anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Voicing unsubstantiated claims, Trump said: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.
“They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he added. Trump went on to add that immigrants were taking over the city.
Harris laughed at Trump’s comments and then called his sentiment “extreme.”
Furthermore, David Muir, one of ABC’s debate moderators, quickly fact checked Trump’s statement.
“You bring up Springfield, Ohio, and ABC News did reach out to the city manager there,” said Muir.
“He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Rumours about Haitian immigrants in Ohio abducting and eating pets appear to have originated from a viral video of a Springfield resident in the town’s council meeting, who claimed immigrants in the community had killed ducks from a local park for food.
The inflammatory video was shared far and wide in right-wing and Republican social media circles.
The false claims caught on with vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, who repeated the baseless rumour on X/Twitter: “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio.”
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border tsar?”
Reaction to Trump’s “they’re eating the dogs” Springfield, Ohio comment
Trump’s bizarre comment that “they’re eating the dogs” has been widely mocked online, giving rise to a flood of memes and viral reactions.
One user pointed out that they knew the perfect song to soundtrack his false claims:
“A key point missing in a lot of post debate analysis is that Trump’s claim about immigrants eating pets almost perfectly syncs up to the piano in the Peanuts theme song,” they wrote.
Another meme sees Hilary Clinton and former President Barack Obama breaking down in laughter.
Another noted that: “The weirdest part of the debate is the vague implication it’d kinda be okay for legal citizens to eat your pets.”
Other viral tweets also referred to Trump’s similarly-mocked claim that Harris wants to perform “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”
The Simpsons is set in the fictional town of Springfield; the city’s name being the same as the Ohio city has resulted in a number of The Simpsons memes.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats,” the post reads.
Alongside the text is a gif of a dog and cat from The Simpsons looking shocked as their eyes wander – the same expression could no doubt be found on the faces of the millions of people watching the debate at home.
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