Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance has continued to make false claims that migrants are eating pets in an Ohio town, despite city officials repeatedly denying the rumors.
These unfounded claims have led to a number of security threats, and on Sunday, Wittenberg University in Springfield said it had to cancel events because of threats targeting the school’s Haitian community.
Appearing on his talk show Sunday, Vance defended the false stories, saying “the media completely ignored this until Donald Trump and I started talking about the cat meme.”
“If I have to create stories to get the American media to really pay attention to the suffering of the American people, that’s what I’m going to do,” he told CNN.
“It comes from the direct accounts of my constituents. When I say we’re creating a story, I mean we’re creating an American media focused on that story.”
Vance is a United States senator representing Ohio.
He first made the claims about eating animals last week, before Trump amplified them during his first presidential debate with Kamala Harris.
Springfield city officials have since repeatedly denied these allegations.
Mayor Rob Rue told the BBC that conspiracy theories – and Trump’s pledge to “mass deport” migrants from Springfield – were damaging the town.
“People’s pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio,” Rue told the BBC’s Newshour. “We have contacted the JD Vance Campaign to let them know we have no evidence of that happening, and I have made it clear in multiple interviews that this is absolutely not true.”
“We need people to understand that, especially those who have microphones that the world hears, they need to understand the weight of their words and how it can negatively impact the community.”
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, called the rumors on ABC’s This Week “completely untrue garbage.”
Last week, Springfield evacuated three schools and other city buildings due to threats, at least one of which was derogatory toward Haitians.
Police at Wittenberg University said on campus warning that an email sent on Saturday threatened a shooting the following day.
“This message is directed at Haitian members of our community,” police said. “All students, faculty and staff should exercise extreme caution and be aware of their surroundings.”
Springfield police also said they received calls on Saturday about members of the Proud Boys marching in the city, after a video circulated on social media showing a group of men holding flags and wearing symbols associated with the far-right group.
Vance told CBS News on Sunday that he is not “affiliated” with the Proud Boys but said the real issue is Harris’ “open borders.”
Trump, like Vance, has made baseless claims and said the town was “destroyed” by the wave of immigration.
During a campaign rally in California on Friday, Trump vowed to carry out a “mass deportation” from Springfield if elected. He has promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants across the country.
Springfield, a rust belt city in southwestern Ohio, is home to about 60,000 people and has seen thousands of immigrants arrive in recent years.
Many of the migrants in the town are from Haiti and are legally allowed in the United States under a federal program for Haitians.
