At Univision town hall, Trump refuses to back off false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in Ohio

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his false claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors’ pets, using a town hall with undecided Latino voters to prop up misinformation that has been rejected by local and statewide leaders from both parties.

Asked by an audience member if he truly believed the Springfield story, Trump insisted he was only “saying what was reported.”

“All I do is report,” Trump said, not sharing his sources other than to name “newspapers.” The former president also – again without any evidence – said the migrant community is “eating other things too that they’re not supposed to be.”

His latest incendiary remarks came during a Univision forum in Florida moderated by Mexican journalist Enrique Acevedo. Trump has made inroads with Hispanic voters, but Vice President Kamala Harris still has an advantage – albeit slimmer than Joe Biden’s in 2020 – with that demographic. The former president on Wednesday largely ignored the detailed questions from the audience, frequently pivoting to attacks on undocumented immigrants.

Ahead of Trump’s appearance, the Harris-Walz campaign attempted to set the narrative with a news conference in Florida, featuring several children who came to the United States from Central America and were forcibly separated from their parents under the Trump administration’s border policies.

Harris, who appeared at her own Univision town hall last week, has repeatedly ripped Trump over the claims about Haitians, saying at a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in September that the former president is “spewing lies grounded in tropes.”

The right-wing misinformation about Haitian people now living in Springfield – legally under Temporary Protected Status – has become a staple of Trump’s dark and often misleading message on immigration. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has also doubled and tripled down on the conspiracy theories – over the objections of his home state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, along with the city’s mayor and police chief.

A barrage of anonymous threats against the city’s Haitian community led local officials to cancel a cultural diversity celebration and DeWine, who in September called the viral story a “piece of garbage” and “simply not true,” eventually called in state police to protect students.

Trump has previously said that the Haitian migrants, despite their protected status under federal law, are “illegal immigrants as far as I’m concerned,” saying he would revoke their status and deport them if he wins another term in November.

The initial question to the former president on Wednesday noted that remark, which like so many others came despite multiple attempts by authorities in Springfield to publicly quash the false claims. Trump did not respond directly, but – after acknowledging he’s never been to the city – said he is planning a visit.

“I’m going to be there and we’re going to take a look,” Trump said, “and I’ll give you a full report when I do.”

Trump said that the migrants are “eating the pets of the people that live there” during a debate with Harris in September. Pressed by the moderator, Trump said he saw people on television who said “their dog was eaten by the people that went there.”

A spokesperson for the City of Springfield told CNN shortly afterward that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Trump was also asked by voters about his plan for the “mass deportation” of undocumented immigrants and why, earlier this year, he so fiercely opposed a bipartisan border bill on Capitol Hill.

The legislation was championed by Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a conservative Republican, but GOP support fell away after Trump blasted it, calling the deal a “great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party.”

The former president did not directly answer either question, twice reverting to talking points about his administration’s immigration policy and, on the issue of deportations, economic difficulties facing farmers.

“We had the strongest border we’ve ever had in the history, recorded history of our country,” Trump said when questioned about his border plan. “Four years ago, we had a border that was great. And again, people were coming in, but they were coming in through a legal process.”

When asked specifically who would do the jobs of migrant farm workers if he deported them en masse, Trump swerved into more lurid claims about undocumented immigrants, saying those coming across the US border with Mexico are “murderers, drug dealers, terrorists.”

CNN’s Arit John contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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