Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance defended his claim Sunday that Haitian migrants in his home state of Ohio are kidnapping and killing neighbors' cats and dogs for food, even though the Republican governor and local state officials said there was no evidence of animal cruelty.
“My constituents are telling me firsthand that they are seeing things like this,” Vance unabashedly told CNN host Dana Bash during a contentious interview on “State of the Union.”
Vance blamed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, for the alleged attacks on pets in Springfield, Ohio, saying she allowed 20,000 Haitian migrants to move there, overwhelming city services and hospitals.
“Kamala Harris opened the border,” Vance said, even though most Haitians are not illegal immigrants but were admitted to the U.S. under a federal program that grants them temporary protected status to work. Vance denied any responsibility for several recent threats against Springfield, blaming them on “psychopaths” and “losers.”
Springfield's mayor and local sheriff said they had no evidence to support Vance's claims that residents' pets were being killed for food.
On Sunday, the state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, also rejected Vance's claim.
“This discussion about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things has got to stop,” DeWine told ABC's “This Week.” “We know that the Haitians that are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work (and) … they are very good workers.”
Speaking on CNN immediately after Vance, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of neighboring Pennsylvania, once mentioned as a possible vice presidential running mate alongside Harris, accused Vance of reckless rhetoric.
“When they come out and lie about this, they put their fellow Americans at risk,” he said. “J.D. Vance should be ashamed. … This is dangerous stuff.”
Vance's claims about attacks on cats and dogs took on new urgency Tuesday when former Republican President Donald Trump raised the issue in his debate with Harris, seeking to portray Harris as someone who has failed to control the U.S. border to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. Immigration is a major issue for many voters heading to the Nov. 5 national election.
ABC News debate moderator David Muir fact-checked Trump, telling debate viewers that Springfield's city manager assured the network that the alleged attacks on people's pets had not happened. Later this week, Trump claimed that some of the migrants had stolen geese from a city pond to kill and eat.
However, a man caught on video carrying two dead geese across the street claimed he simply picked them up to get rid of them after they were hit by a passing car.
In an interview with CNN, Vance insisted that Americans have “suffered horribly because of Kamala Harris’s (immigration) policies.” He claimed that CNN and other national media outlets are “letting Kamala Harris float” and not holding her accountable for her performance during her 3½ years as vice president.
At the debate, Harris defended her and President Joe Biden's efforts to control immigration, saying Trump urged Republican lawmakers months ago to reject a bipartisan effort to impose new restrictions so he could run on the issue before the election.
After the proposal was rejected by Congress, Biden signed an executive order imposing new rules on the U.S.-Mexico border that significantly reduced the flow of migrants.
Trump has said on the campaign trail that if he wins the White House, he will begin mass deportations of millions of migrants, starting with Springfield and Aurora, Colorado, where Venezuelans have moved.
“As President, I will immediately end the invasion of migrants into America,” Trump said on his social media account on Saturday.