Haiti expresses indignation towards Trump due to the falsely racist remark.
Kamala Harris chimed in with a chuckle at the outlandish tale spread by Donald Trump during their TV face-off: The GOP championed the misconception that immigrants hailing from Haiti were feasting on the pets of unsuspecting American citizens. The Haitian state responded with disapproval.
Haitian authorities have now intervened regarding the baseless assertion by US Republicans that Haitian migrants were stealing and consuming pets of Ohioans. In a public rebuke, the Department for Haitian Diasporans decried "discriminatory comments by American politicians concerning Haitians abroad."
The statement highlighted how fellow Haitians living abroad have suffered from disinformation, stereotyping, and dehumanization to further political objectives. High-ranking Republicans in the US had disseminated baseless accusations about the theft and consumption of pets by Haitian migrants online, leading to widespread fear.
During the debate with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on November 2nd, Donald Trump repeated the long-debunked allegation: "In Springfield, they're consuming the canines - the ones who have arrived - they're devouring the felines, they're devouring the pets of the people who reside there," the former president stated. Trump disregarded denials from the authorities in Springfield, Ohio, who labeled such accusations as unsubstantiated.
The media report that kickstarted the controversy was about a woman in Ohio who was accused of killing and consuming a house cat. There is no proof suggesting a connection between Haitian immigrants and this incident, with the local police also emphasizing.
Immigration is a major point of contention in the presidential election set for November 5th. Trump, a right-wing populist with anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner views, has pledged to set in motion the largest-scale deportation of undocumented migrants in US history on his first day in the White House, should he win the election.
The US presidential election of 2024 is shaping up to be contentious, with immigration being a key issue. During a debate with Kamala Harris, Donald Trump revived his baseless claim about Haitian migrants stealing and consuming pets in Springfield, which was met with denials by local authorities and no evidence to support it.
In light of the US presidential election of 2024, Trump's repeated use of discredited allegations against Haitian immigrants, such as the pet consumption tale, has raised concerns about the negative impact of disinformation and discrimination on the Haitian community.
