“They’re eating the dogs”: Trump peddled false claims about immigrants in last night's debate, leading him to be fact-checked live on air. It also led to a flurry of memes featuring animals and The Simpson’s dog, Santa’s Little Helper.
ADVERTISEMENTWhen Donald Trump’s favourite topic – immigration – was brought up in last night’s debate, the former president began to ramble about immigrants killing and eating people’s pets.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” said Trump. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
This unhinged claim, which has been debunked and ridiculed, originated with a viral video of a resident of Springfield, Ohio, claiming before the town’s council that immigrants had killed ducks from a local park for food.
The unsubstantiated accusation spread on rightwing accounts and evolved into a viral meme of AI-generated Trump appearing to protect animals.
Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance echoed the rumour about Haitian migrants eating people’s pets, posting on X: “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?”
During the debate, a stunned Harris laughed in disbelief while moderator David Muir was quick to fact-check him.
“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.”
Trump protested by saying that he had seen stories on TV about pets being eaten: “People on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food,’ so maybe he said that and maybe that’s a good thing to say for a city manager.”
The dog-eating comments made by Trump, which are dangerous for Haitians in the US and even hark back to hateful stereotypes regarding Asian immigrants, join the Republican candidate’s frequent comparing of immigrants to Hannibal Lecter. They reveal a shameful tactic on Trump’s part to establish an equivalence between foreigners and the taking (and consumption) of what people hold most valuable.
His wildly false statement has also now led to several memes about dogs going viral online – particularly Simpsons ones, considering the city of Springfield is also the fictional hometown of everyone’s favourite yellow-skinned cartoon family. Their pooch, Santa’s Little Helper, has been doing the rounds.
Check it out:
The Simpsons has frequently been seen as a show that can predict the future – from global events to unlikely concert mash-ups, Matt Groening’s animated sitcom has become notorious for some of its episodes and jokes becoming eerily accurate.
Another clip was shared of an episode called “The Springfield Files”, in which the town’s brewery was shown making beer using dogs:
And then came the posts mocking the bizarre performance by Trump.
Feast your eyes on some of our favourites:
ADVERTISEMENTThe US presidential election takes place on Tuesday 5 November 2024.
