Republican campaign:

Warning against migrants who “eat pets”

The Republicans are scaring the electorate with reports of pets being "eaten" by immigrants from Haiti.(Bild: APA/AFP/ARNULFO FRANCO)

While Republican politicians - above all presidential candidate Donald Trump - have previously warned against murderers, drug dealers and rapists that Joe Biden's government is said to have brought to the USA as part of its migration policy, they are now running a particularly gruesome fake news campaign. 

Around two months before the US presidential election, high-ranking US Republicans have shared false claims about the theft and eating of pets by Haitian immigrants in the US state of Ohio. "Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!" members of the House Judiciary Committee wrote on X on Monday, posting an AI-generated image of their presidential candidate Donald Trump rescuing a kitten and a duck (see below).

His running mate J.D. Vance, who hails from Ohio, explained on X that "Haitian illegal immigrants" in the city of Springfield were depleting social services and generally causing chaos. According to reports, pets there are now being "kidnapped and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," Vance stated. "Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us," read a picture of kittens shared by Senator Ted Cruz.

Footage of a "cat eater" being arrested
Some right-wing social media accounts had spread a report about a woman in Ohio who had allegedly killed and eaten a pet cat. While no evidence came to light linking the incident to immigrants or the Haitian community, the footage of her arrest continued to be shared (see below).

Law enforcement in Springfield quickly debunked the false claims. "There are no credible reports or specific allegations of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the migrant community," the city's police department stated. 

Musk also distributed recordings
Elon Musk, who had recently expressed his support for Trump's candidacy, also shared posts from the campaign on his short message platform X. Trump himself commented on this on his Truth Social network on Monday: "20,000 Haitian immigrants were dumped in the small town of Springfield, Ohio," he stated.