At debate, Trump shares falsehoods about pet-eating, infanticide

By Alexandra Ulmer

(Reuters) - Immigrants eating pets. Democrats in favor of executing newborn babies. Israel ceasing to exist under a potential Kamala Harris presidency.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made numerous false assertions or extreme statements during Tuesday's debate with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, several times prompting a correction from the moderators.

Perhaps most striking was Trump amplifying a false claim that has gone viral that numerous Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents' pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.

"They're eating the dogs! The people that came in. They're eating the cats! They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there," Trump said during the debate.

Harris laughed and shook her head. The moderator said there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed. Trump countered that he had seen TV interviews of people who said their dogs had been taken and eaten.

The Biden White House earlier on Tuesday condemned the viral misinformation, which Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance, also shared. The White House said such remarks sought to divide Americans through lies and was based on racism.

Trump repeated his falsehood that millions of migrants were pouring into the United States from foreign prisons and mental institutions. "They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently," Trump said.

Migrants have not staged any violent takeovers of American towns.

Some of Harris' claims were exaggerated or disputed by Trump, a Reuters Fact Check found, although the review did not flag major falsehoods on her end.

In one instance, Harris cited Trump as saying there would be a "bloodbath" if he was not elected, a reference to a March 2024 speech he gave in Dayton, Ohio. The Trump campaign later said that he was referring to the fate of the auto industry under the Biden administration.

INFANTICIDE, ISRAEL, CRIME

Trump also reiterated a falsehood - which he often shares at his rallies - that Democrats are so extreme on abortion rights that they support killing newborns.

"Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth," Trump said of Harris's running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Harris has said she backs reinstating the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that recognized women's constitutional right to abortion at up to around 24 to 28 weeks. Harris and Walz do not support executing babies.

Later, during a discussion on the Middle East, Trump said Harris "hates" Israel.

"If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now," Trump said, without sharing any evidence for such a claim. "The whole place is going to get blown up ... Israel will be gone."

Harris said it was "absolutely not true" that she hated Israel and said she had supported the country throughout her career.

Trump also said crime rates were down globally, except in the United States, where he said rates were "through the roof."

FBI data released in March showed homicides across the U.S. dropped by more than 13% in 2023, declining for the second consecutive year after a precipitous spike during the coronavirus pandemic.

The data is at odds with the public perception that crime is worsening, however.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)