Former President Donald Trump's running mate and Ohio Senator JD Vance is defending his false claims about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in Springfield.
Last week, Vance amplified now-debunked claims that Haitians were pets in Springfield, Ohio. Trump continued to amplify misinformation about Haitian immigrants during the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Despite Springfield police and the city manager confirming there were no reports of Haitians eating pets, Vance doubled down on his comments in an interview with CNN on Sunday (September 15).
“My constituents are telling me first-hand that they’re seeing these things,” the Ohio senator said.
When the GOP vice presidential nominee was asked if he knew he was pushing false allegations, Vance said: “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
Vance clarified his statement after CNN's Dana Bash called the senator out for saying he was "creating this story."
“I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,” Vance said. “I didn’t create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield thanks to Kamala Harris’s policies. Her policies did that.”
“But yes we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story," he added.
Several Democrats called out Vance for admitting to "creating stories" to advance his agenda.
“Remarkable confession by JD Vance when he said he will ‘create stories’ (that is, lie) to redirect the media,” Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, said. “All this to change the subject away from abortion rights, manufacturing jobs, taxation of the rich, and the other things clearly at stake in this election.”
A journalist who shared a video of Vance's comments said the senator "acknowledges the cat and dog stories are urban legends and then rationalizes it."
“A dishonest smear," Vance responded on X, formerly Twitter. "I didn’t invent constituents complaining about this. We did help create the media focus on their complaints.”
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