Falsehoods claiming migrants in Ohio are killing cats and decapitating ducks went viral this week. The Trump campaign embraced them.
A falsehood that migrants have killed wild animals and household pets for food ricocheted around the internet this week, vaulting from fringe social media posts to a Trump campaign talking point in a matter of days.
The claims were based on several unsubstantiated anecdotes and appeared to mix together unrelated stories about animal cruelty. The idea also has deep roots in racist stereotypes, which depict foreigners as willing consumers of a variety of undesirable animals.
Their rapid proliferation underscores how quickly bogus claims can spread on social networks like X. Thousands of posts mentioning the idea flooded social media this past weekend and surged on Monday, according to Pyrra Technologies, a company that monitors social media.
It also signals the willingness of former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign to echo falsehoods and conspiracy theories as Election Day draws near. In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has returned to baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, that Democrats are conspiring to interfere with this year’s race and that investigations into Russian interference are a “hoax.”
Among the first prominent people to share the falsehood over the weekend was Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA, a conservative group. He wrote on X on Sunday that “residents of Springfield, OH are reporting that Haitians are eating their family pets,” sharing an undated post from a private Facebook group about crime in Springfield that has fewer than 9,000 members. Mr. Kirk’s post was viewed 3.9 million times.
The author of the Facebook post said a neighbor’s daughter’s friend had seen animal cruelty against a cat outside a house occupied by Haitian immigrants.