Trump Faces Blowback for Repeating Lie About Migrants and Pets
- GOP nominee repeats false claim that migrants were eating pets
- Episode shows risk for candidates of embracing disinformation
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Donald Trump’s attempt to attack Vice President Kamala Harris with a widely debunked online falsehood about Haitian migrants backfired on the Republican nominee, becoming one of the signature moments of their first — and possibly only — debate.
Halfway through their encounter Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Trump assailed Harris over US border policy and claimed that migrants in the Ohio city of Springfield were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city’s manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.