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US Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, speaks before former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)

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US POLITICS

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1726417727340AFP__20240318__34LV3B4__v2__HighRes__UsVotePoliticsTrump.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="US Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, speaks before former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. Kamil Krzaczynski, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, speaks before former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. <em>Kamil Krzaczynski, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON -- The Republican vice presidential nominee defended Sunday his claim that immigrants are eating people&#x27;s pet animals in an Ohio town, a claim multiple officials say is &quot;dangerous&quot; and unfounded.</p><p>Donald Trump&#x27;s running mate JD Vance had made the surprising claim earlier this month -- saying Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio -- were eating people&#x27;s pet cats and dogs. Vance is a US senator who represents Ohio.</p><p>Trump amplified the claim during his debate Tuesday with Democrat Kamala Harris, provoking widespread mockery at home and abroad -- but also prompting a series of threats that forced some Springfield schools and hospitals to close.</p><p>&quot;My constituents are telling me firsthand that they&#x27;re seeing these things,&quot; an unapologetic Vance said on CNN.</p><p>Vance denied any responsibility for the recent spate of threats against Springfield, blaming them on &quot;psychopaths&quot; and &quot;losers.&quot;</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3068753"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script></div><p>Springfield&#x27;s mayor, a local sheriff and the state&#x27;s Republican governor have said they have no evidence to back up Vance&#x27;s claims.</p><p>&quot;These discussions about Haitians eating dogs and cats and other things need to stop,&quot; Governor Mike DeWine said on ABC.</p><p>&quot;What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work (and)...they are very good workers.&quot;</p><p>Thousands of Haitians have settled in Springfield in recent years, most of them under a federal program granting them temporary protected status.</p><p>Governor Josh Shapiro of the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, a Democrat once touted as a possible Harris running mate, on Sunday accused Vance of recklessly fanning the flames of rumor.</p><p>&quot;When they go out and they lie about this stuff, they put their fellow Americans at risk,&quot; he told CNN interviewer Dana Bash. &quot;JD Vance should be ashamed of himself. ... This is dangerous stuff.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/11/trump-and-harris-meet-in-high-stakes-debate-946">READ: Harris takes fight to Trump in fiery presidential debate</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/11/after-fiery-debate-harris-and-trump-at-9-11-memorial-2350">READ: After fiery debate, Harris and Trump at 9/11 memorial</a></div><p>Vance denied his remarks had any connection to the threats against Springfield.</p><p>&quot;The violence is disgusting,&quot; he said. &quot;We condemn it.&quot; But he repeatedly blamed the problems in places like Springfield on the border policies of the Biden-Harris administration.</p><p>Trump, like Vance, has doubled down on his attacks on migrants.</p><p>Campaigning Friday in California, Trump vowed there would be &quot;large deportations&quot; from Springfield if elected. He has promised to deport millions of undocumented migrants nationwide.</p><p>Harris, meantime, appeared Friday in Shapiro&#x27;s state of Pennsylvania, perhaps the most crucial of the swing states expected to decide the November election.</p><p>&quot;I offer a new generation of leadership,&quot; said the 59-year-old Democrat, underlining the contrast to Trump, who is 78.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6PIWrTzdurI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Republican vice presidential nominee defended Sunday his claim that immigrants are eating people's pet animals in an Ohio town, a claim multiple officials say is "dangerous" and unfounded.</p>

The Republican vice presidential nominee defended Sunday his claim that immigrants are eating people's pet animals in an Ohio town, a claim multiple officials say is "dangerous" and unfounded.

Vance defends pet-eating story, a claim Democrats call 'dangerous'

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Vance defends pet-eating story, a claim Democrats call 'dangerous'

Agence France-Presse

Published September 16, 2024 01:11 AM PHT

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US politics

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Springfield

Haitian immigrants

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