US: Haitian immigrants are kidnapping cats and dogs and eating them: Poll

US: A recent study finds that over half of Trump’s fans accept the unproven accusation made by the previous president that Haitian immigrants kidnap and devour pets and animals.

During his first debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump made a comment based on unverified social media claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are consuming pets.

“In Springfield, they’re consuming the dogs—the visitors,” said the former president. They’re consuming the felines. It is regrettable that they are consuming the locals’ pets, and this is what occurs in our nation.”

Claims that there are allegations of immigrants in the neighborhood murdering or eating pets have been refuted by city authorities.

However, a recent YouGov survey conducted on September 11 and 12 reveals that whilst just 4% of probable 2024 Harris voters think the claim is “definitely” or “probably” accurate, 52% of likely 2024 Trump supporters do.

Though 24% are unsure, just 25% of probable Trump supporters in 2024 think the assertion is “definitely” or “probably” untrue. Eight percent of probable Harris voters in 2024 are unsure, while 88% think the assertion is untrue.

Additionally, the survey reveals that 46% of Republicans who are registered “definitely” or “probably” think the allegation is accurate, while 29% disagree and 24% are unsure.

In contrast, 8 percent of registered Democrats said that the statement was “definitely” or “probably” accurate, while 81 percent responded that it was untrue. Democrats expressed uncertainty in 10% of cases.

In all, 26 percent of the 1,120 adult Americans surveyed said they agreed with the premise, 54 percent disagreed, and 20 percent were unsure.

There was a 3.8 percent margin of error in the survey. Newsweek emailed the Trump campaign to get a statement.

It comes after another recent survey by Data for Progress, which was done on September 11 and 12, revealing that 69% of Republicans thought Trump’s comments on immigrants from Haiti were “weird.”

The percentage was 91% among Democrats and 77% among Independents.

The allegation started when a Springfield homeowner named Erika Lee claimed in a Facebook post that her neighbor’s cat had vanished and that the neighbor thought their Haitian neighbors were connected to the crime.

Lee told NBC News on Friday that she lacked concrete proof to back up her allegation, even after the post attracted a lot of attention. NBC and NewsGuard have claimed that the neighbor, Kimberly Newton, obtained information about the purported event from an unidentified third party.

“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Lee said.

She went on, “I’m not a racist,” stating that her kid is half Black, that she is mixed-race, and that she belongs to the LGBTQ+ group. “Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.”

In an appearance with CNN on Sunday, JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, repeated the untruth.

“Up until Donald Trump and I began talking about cat memes, the American media completely disregarded this stuff. The senator from Ohio said, “I will invent stories if necessary to get the American media to really cover the pain of the American people.

“You just said that this is a story that you created,” CNN presenter Dana Bash challenged. “It comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents,” Vance said. When I say that we are building a narrative, what I mean is that we are developing the American media around it.

Thanks to Kamala Harris’s policy, I did not cause 20,000 illegal migrants to enter Springfield. That was accomplished by her policies. However, we did set the real agenda so that the American media could discuss this subject and the pain brought about by Kamala Harris’s policies.”

According to the city of Springfield’s website, between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants—including Haitians who are lawfully here due to a parole program—live in Clark County. Through this program, citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States may petition to have their family members from Haiti join them here.

Springfield citizens have reported receiving flyers from the Ku Klux Klan and threats of bombs and mass killings after last Tuesday’s discussion; the most recent of these incidents happened at Wittenberg University on Saturday night.

Following Tuesday’s debate, Republican governor of Ohio Mike DeWine said that since then, law enforcement has reacted to at least 33 distinct bomb threats made against Springfield government buildings, educational institutions, and medical facilities.

According to the governor, foreign entities were posing the threats.

“We have people unfortunately overseas who are taking these actions,” stated DeWine. “Some of them are coming from one particular country.”

Although Iranian and Russian officials have both been charged by US authorities with attempting to influence the 2024 presidential election, DeWine did not name the nation in question.

DeWine said, “We believe that the threats being made are another attempt to interfere with the United States.” “And they’re continuing to do so.”

“We have to stop allowing the evil guys to win. “Our schools have to remain open,” he underlined, declaring that Springfield would get more law enforcement resources in reaction to the mounting threats.