Fact-checking Vance's claims about immigrants eating pets

(CNN) — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance acknowledged Tuesday that it’s possible the false claim that Haitian immigrants are abducting the pets of Springfield, Ohio, residents might not be true, but he encouraged his followers to continue posting “cat memes.”

“In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” Vance posted on X

“Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here,” Vance continued, also pointing to the impact migration has had on health and education services.

Vance appeared to be referring to an incident last year in which an 11-year-old child was killed in a bus crash in Springfield involving a Haitian immigrant driver who had a foreign license that was not valid in Ohio, as reported by The New York Times. The driver involved has been convicted of first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide, according to the Springfield News-Sun.

The Times reported that city officials estimated an influx of as many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants to the town in recent years. The report said the arrivals overwhelmed community health clinics, which saw a 13-times increase from 2021-2023, and put a strain on housing and schools.

“If you’re a reporter, or an activist, who didn’t give a shit about these suffering Americans until yesterday, I have some advice: Spare your outrage for your fellow citizens suffering under Kamala Harris’s policies. Be outraged at yourself for letting this happen,” he continued.

In a follow-up post, Vance said, “In short, don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing.”

Vance promoted false claims on Monday that Haitian migrants in Ohio are killing and eating family pets, though his post on Tuesday made no mention of Haitians “eating” them. It’s the latest turn in a campaign that has increasingly embraced race-baiting messaging, questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity while seeking to undermine her immigration policies.

The unsubstantiated claims appear to be the result of an unwieldy game of telephone that began as a rumor in a local Facebook group before spiraling to reach the highest echelons of conservative media and the Republican Party. They spread widely on X, whose owner, Elon Musk, has embraced the false rumors and posted several memes that promoted them.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the City of Springfield said, “There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

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