Jones: Trump's Claim About Haitians Eating Pets is 'Racist' and Proves He's 'Unfit' to Lead

Haitian migrants in a small Ohio town are not abducting and feasting upon their neighbor's pets, and magnifying that rumor is "bigoted", "vile", and indicates that Donald Trump should not be president again, said Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, who represents the largest Haitian population nationwide.

Sen. Jones, a leading South Florida Democrat, blasted Trump for popularizing the "racist" theory at Tuesday's presidential debate when asked about immigration policies. After Kamala Harris helped sidetrack the former President by claiming people are "bored" at his rallies, Trump launched into the baseless rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating ducks, geese, cats, and dogs, despite city police denying the existence of any true pet-eating stories.

"These bigoted attacks are vile," Jones said in a Wednesday statement, slamming Trump and JD Vance for spreading "blatantly false and racist conspiracy theories" about Haitians. "Trump's incoherent meltdown on the debate stage further demonstrates his unfitness to serve as Commander in Chief...Floridians and the American people deserve better than more of the Trump-Vance ticket's lies."

Jones has been a staunch advocate for the Haitian community, penning a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis in March to ask the Governor for "empathy and humanity" after a slew of Haitian refugees escaped the gang-ridden island. Jones represents most of North Miami, Miami Gardens, and North Bay Village, and according to the 2020 census, the largest Haitian community in the U.S. resides in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach areas—a large segment of Jones' district.

That aside, how did we get to a former President talking about carnivorous Haitians on a debate stage?

The idea of the bloodthirsty immigrants began on popular, far-right X accounts that posted side-by-side images of a black man carrying a bird next to a "Springfield Ohio Crime" post alleging that one resident's missing cat was found hanging from a branch "where the Haitians live." The account claimed that the cat was being "carved up to eat" and looked like it was being prepared the way a "deer for butchering" would.

This follows a massive uptick in Springfield's Haitian population: in three years, around 15,000 of the island nation's people have settled in the town, which used to have a population of around 58,000.

Trump's running mate JD Vance then amplified the issue on Monday—exploding the theory into the national news cycle—and it soon found its mouthpiece in Trump Tuesday night.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs,” Trump said on stage. “The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating—they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame."

Harris laughed at him, chuckling, "Talk about extreme."

After the debate, Vance played cleanup, explaining, "This town has been ravaged by 20,000 migrants coming in...This is what Kamala Harris’s border policies have done. The media didn’t care about the carnage wrought by these policies until we turned it into a meme about cats...If we have to meme about it to get the media to care, we’re going to keep on doing it because the media should care about what’s going on.”

The presidential election between Harris and Trump takes place on Nov. 5.