During a heated exchange on CNN, Ohio Senator JD Vance defended a controversial claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, which he had previously spread on social media.

The claim, which alleged that Haitian immigrants were abducting and consuming pets in the town, was amplified by former President Donald Trump during a recent debate.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins pressed Vance on the lack of evidence supporting the allegation, but Vance stood by the concerns raised by local residents.

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Collins began by questioning Vance’s decision to promote the claim, despite acknowledging there was no clear evidence. “Who would say is he brought up this misleading, false claim that you yourself have talked about in recent days about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, abducting people’s pets and eating them, which officials there have said is not true. You yourself acknowledged it may be false on Twitter, you still told people to keep spreading it, but Trump just amplified it to 10s of millions of people who are watching, why push something that’s not true?” Collins asked.

In response, Vance defended the claim, pointing to concerns raised by local residents. “Well, first of all, city officials have not said it’s not true. They said they don’t have all the evidence. We’ve heard from a number of constituents on the ground, Kaitlan, who both firsthand and secondhand reports saying this stuff is happening. So they very clearly, meaning the people on the ground dealing with this think that it is happening, and I think that it’s important for journalists to actually get on the ground and uncover this stuff for themselves,” Vance said.

Vance went on to emphasize the broader challenges faced by Springfield, Ohio, attributing the town’s difficulties to the influx of migrants. “When you have a lot of people saying, my pets are being abducted, or geese at the city pond are being abducted and slaughtered right in front of us, this is crazy stuff,” he explained. “And again, whether those exact rumors turn out to be mostly true, somewhat true, whatever the case may be, Caitlan, this town has been ravaged by 20,000 migrants coming in. Healthcare costs are up. Housing costs are up. Communicable diseases like HIV and TB have skyrocketed in this small Ohio town.”

Vance laid the blame for these issues on Kamala Harris’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing that the rise in costs and diseases was directly tied to the border crisis. “This is what Kamala Harris’s border policies have done,” he said.

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Vance also suggested that the media had largely ignored the problems facing Springfield until the pet abduction claims went viral. “I think it’s interesting, Caitlin, that the media didn’t care about the carnage wrought by these policies until we turned it into a meme about cats,” Vance remarked. “And that speaks to the media’s failure to care about what’s going on in these communities. If we have to meme about it to get the media to care, we’re going to keep on doing it, because the media should care about what’s going on.”

Vance insisted that concerns from residents should not be dismissed without further investigation and that media outlets should take a closer look at the real issues facing the town due to the migrant influx.

Watch the video:

JD Vance just gave a masterclass on CNN! pic.twitter.com/qERFOun3OU

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) September 11, 2024

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