JD Vance Appears to Backtrack on False Claim About Haitian Migrants in Ohio

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, appeared to backtrack on Tuesday on an outlandish false claim that he had promoted a day earlier saying that Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets.

In a social media post on Tuesday morning, Mr. Vance said his office had “received many inquiries” about the false claims, but added that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”

Local officials have found no evidence, credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed by Haitian residents, and a spokesman for Mr. Vance did not provide evidence to support the claim on Monday.

But even as he acknowledged the possibility that the rumors were false, Mr. Vance encouraged his supporters to continue spreading them.

“Don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing,” Mr. Vance said, referencing a particularly gruesome false claim that came from a viral social media post.

The Trump campaign also promoted the claim in a news release on Monday attacking Vice President Kamala Harris on immigration, saying, “it’s coming to your city next.”

Mr. Vance, as Ohio’s junior senator, has in recent months attacked Springfield’s growing Haitian population, a group whose members are living and working in the United States legally. Job opportunities in Springfield have attracted thousands of Haitians since the pandemic, with city officials estimating that as many as 20,000 have arrived. By most accounts, the immigrant community has helped revitalize the town, though it has put pressure on housing, schools and hospitals. (Springfield had roughly 58,000 people as of the last census in 2020.)

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