JD Vance “invented” a story spread by Trump during … about migrants eating domestic cats and dogs.

September 16, 2024, 12:40 p.m.

JD Vance has admitted that he “made up” a story about Haitian migrants eating domestic cats and dogs that was spread by Donald Trump during last week’s presidential debate.

In the unproven allegations, which the local mayor has since denied, the former president claimed that illegal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were responsible for eating people's pets.

The allegations arose when Trump and Harris clashed on Wednesday evening during the second televised debate ahead of the US election in November.

Trump told viewers that Springfield residents' pets were “kidnapped and eaten by people who don't belong in this country.”

However, Trump's vice presidential candidate and running mate JD Vance has now revealed that he “made up” the lie to “draw attention to Biden and Harris' immigration policies.”

Trump, who had previously called Harris a “childless cat lady,” said he got the information about the animal slaughter from television.

Vance, 40, admitted in an interview with CNN on Sunday that he made up the allegations.

Vance raised his hands and said the story was fabricated to reinforce Trump's message on immigration and his promise to deport illegal immigrants if re-elected.

Vance said that if it takes “making up stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I will do.”

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Speaking to CNN, Vance said: “I say we create a story, which means we create the American media to focus on it.

“I did not bring 20,000 illegal immigrants to Springfield because of Kamala Harris' policies. That was her policy,” he said.

“But yes, we created the real focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by Kamala Harris' policies.”

The former president used the story to reinforce his message on immigration, promising to deport illegal immigrants if re-elected.

He also used this claim to highlight what he believes is a dramatic increase in migrant-related crime across the country.

This came despite Trump's claims that Harris lied during the heated exchange between the two last week. Most national U.S. polls suggest Harris is between two and four percentage points ahead of Trump heading into the election.

It followed an alleged “assassination attempt” on the former president on Sunday in Florida, in which Ryan Wesley Routh was named as the main suspect.

Routh, 58, was arrested by police in connection with the shooting on Sunday evening after fleeing the scene of the suspected assassination attempt on Trump.

It reports that a member of the Secret Service spotted the muzzle of a gun in the bushes outside Trump's golf club in Florida and that shots were fired at around 1 p.m. local time (7.45 p.m. BST).