Former President Trump Plans Springfield Visit Amid Unfounded Claims Of Immigrants Eating Pets

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is reportedly planning to visit Springfield, Ohio, soon. The visit will come amid ongoing rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating dogs and other pets.

These unproven claims have been circulating in right-wing circles online for weeks, but gained more attention following Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris' debate last week in Philadelphia.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. 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," Trump said, NBC News reported.

The municipal buildings in the city have been receiving bomb threats since the debate. Furthermore, the Springfield immigrants have also reported feeling unsafe. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said last week, "We're in pain right now," noting that if Trump planned to visit the city, it would be a "very difficult visit."

Vivek Ramaswamy, who declared his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination in the upcoming presidential election, said Sunday that he will be visiting Springfield on Sept. 19, stressing that this visit was not to "stoke more controversy but to have open & honest dialogue about mass migration."

He added, "It pains me to see what they're going through now. It's time to actually help Springfield and cities like it across the country by reversing the awful federal policies that aren't the fault of local residents who are suffering, but who inadvertently get blamed for it anyway. That's how we'll make America great again."

Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine also commented on ongoing rumors, calling them "garbage."

"There's a lot of garbage on the internet. You know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There's no evidence of this at all," he said. "The Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence."

Meanwhile, the officials in Springfield and other cities in Ohio turned down the allegations.

The Springfield Police Division said last week that "there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance last week backtracked on the allegation that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating people's pets in Springfield, saying, "It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false."