At a town hall event hosted by Univision, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump defended his false claim that immigrants in Ohio were eating pets. He told Latino voters that he was “just saying what was reported,” even though there are no credible reports supporting this.
Trump has been repeating the false story that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing pets or taking wildlife for food. Ohio officials, including Republicans, have said this isn’t true.
When asked by a Latino voter if he really believed that immigrants were eating pets, Trump responded, “I was just saying what was reported.” He didn’t provide details about where these claims came from.
Despite the lack of evidence, Trump has called for the mass deportation of Haitian immigrants from Ohio, even though many are legally in the U.S. The city of Springfield has even received bomb threats since Trump started spreading the false claims.
With the election just around the corner, Trump has been using harsher language about illegal immigration, a topic that many Republican voters care about. He is competing against Democrat Kamala Harris for Latino votes, a key group in the election. Polls show Harris is leading Trump among Hispanic voters, but his campaign hopes to win over more Latino men by focusing on economic issues.
