White House condemns Republican comments on Haitian immigrants: ‘Based on an element of racism’
The White House on Tuesday denounced Republicans — led by vice presidential nominee JD Vance — for spreading “dangerous” conspiracy theories that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets in Ohio, calling the claims “based on an element of racism.”
Local police told news outlets Monday that they have not received any reports relating to rumors that went viral on social media over the weekend that members of the Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio, have abducted and eaten cats and other animals.
As those rumors spread quickly on the right, they became charged with anti-immigrant rhetoric. Vance has amplified those claims, as did a Trump campaign statement.
During a press briefing Tuesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the comments are “deeply concerning to us,” calling the claim “yet another conspiracy theory that's just seeking to divide people based on lies and, let's be honest, based on an element of racism.”
Kirby also noted that the Springfield police said the rumor is untrue, calling it “absolute nonsense.”
Vance has twice posted about the claims on social media, writing on Monday that “people who shouldn’t be in this country” are “causing chaos all over Springfield.” The Ohio senator doubled down on Tuesday, writing that Springfield residents reached out to his office to say “their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants,” though he added it was possible that “all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
Despite that, Vance encouraged his supporters to “keep the cat memes flowing.”
And the Trump campaign claimed in a statement Monday that migrants had been “caught ‘decapitating ducks’ and hunting geese and other livestock in public parks — and even kidnapping residents’ pets — then eating them.”
“It’s all coming to your city if Kamala Harris is elected in November,” the email said.
At Tuesday’s press briefing, Kirby warned that the false claims are “dangerous.”
“This kind of language, this kind of disinformation, is dangerous because there will be people that believe it, no matter how ludicrous and stupid it is,” Kirby said. “And they might act on that kind of information and act on it in a way where somebody could get hurt. So it needs to stop.”
Vance’s partner on the ticket, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, faced backlash in 2018 when he referred to Haiti as a “shithole” country.
