A MAN-EATS-DOG MYTH It began in the online fever swamps of the far right. Then Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) amplified the baseless claims that folks in Springfield, Ohio, “have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” Donald Trump repeated them to tens of millions of people on the presidential debate stage Tuesday. And now some congressional Republicans aren’t letting it go. Springfield city officials and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, have said there is no evidence to support the claims of animal abuse attributed to Haitian immigrants, and the White House and others have suggested the campaign is rooted in racism. But some House Republicans continue to post memes or AI-generated photos of the former president with cats in an effort to show their support for Trump. What they are saying: Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.), for instance, shared the conspiracy theory on social media in an effort to slam his Democratic rival on border security. But when asked about promoting the unfounded claims, Molinaro said he wanted to bring attention to the issues of illegal immigration and border security. “I would never want to offend anyone, personally. Any good, decent person, I wish not to offend them, whether they're here illegally or illegally. I mean no offense. I want this nation to focus on a crisis of its making. No president before this one [has] allowed to happen what has happened,” Molinaro said Thursday. “What is a disservice to not be honest about the crisis that exists.” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), meanwhile, claimed on a local radio show “there’s video and still photographs of these people carrying the waterfowl down the street. There’s bodycam footage from a police officer who walks up a lady in a driveway eating a cat. So we have to start telling the truth.” (That’s an apparent reference to recent footage of a woman who was found eating a cat who was not an immigrant and not from Springfield.) Asked about his claims by a POLITICO reporter Thursday, Van Orden doubled down: “Your organization has been lying about Donald Trump for a decade,” he said. “You are responsible for the divide in this country. By telling lies. And the time for that is over.” Real-life consequences: The repercussions of the rumor-mongering have gone beyond political debates. Earlier today, bomb threats were called into city agencies and media outlets in Springfield as the Trump-Vance campaign continues to promote the claim. And it’s not just Democrats denouncing the language. “I urge caution with everybody from making broad-base statements on this stuff. Obviously, if there's a specific incident to refer to, refer to the incident. But at the end of the day, this idea that the Haitian people are doing certain things is wrong,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) — who has a significant Haitian immigrant population in his home state and is facing re-election — said in a Breitbart News interview Tuesday that the situation “sounds pretty scary for the citizens of Springfield.” On Thursday, he attempted to steer clear of the issue. “I have a wonderful Haitian population in Florida, and I have a great relationship with them. I go to church with them,” Scott said. “Now, I don't know anything about the accuracy of what's being said, or anything like that, but I mean, this open border stuff, it doesn't make any sense. Any place where you add, you know that percentage of new people, from a whole different country, I think it just makes it hard.” — Daniella Diaz, with assist from Nicholas Wu
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