CNN
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Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance acknowledged Tuesday that the false claim that Haitian immigrants are kidnapping the pets of Springfield, Ohio, residents may not be true, but he encouraged his followers to continue posting “cat memes.”

“Over the past few weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual Springfield residents claiming that their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife have been kidnapped by Haitian migrants. It is, of course, possible that all of these rumors turn out to be untrue,” Vance wrote on X

“You know what has been confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here,” Vance continued, also pointing to the impact that migration has had on health care and education.

Vance appeared to be referring to an incident last year in which an 11-year-old child was killed in a Springfield bus crash involving a Haitian immigrant driver who had a foreign driver’s license that was not valid in Ohio, The New York Times reported. The driver involved has been convicted of first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree manslaughter, the Springfield News-Sun reported.

The Times reported that city officials estimated an influx of as many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants into the city in recent years. The report said the arrivals were overwhelming community health clinics, which saw a 13-fold increase from 2021 to 2023, and putting pressure on housing and schools.

“If you’re a reporter or an activist who didn’t give a damn about these suffering Americans until yesterday, I have some advice: Save your outrage for your fellow citizens who are suffering under Kamala Harris’ policies. Be outraged at yourself for letting this happen,” he continued.

In a follow-up post, Vance said: “In short, don’t let the crybabies in the media scare you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing.”

Vance on Monday promoted false claims that Haitian migrants in Ohio are killing and eating pets, though his Tuesday post made no mention of Haitians “eating” them. It’s the latest twist in a campaign that has increasingly embraced race-baiting messages, questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity and attempting to undermine her immigration policies.

The unsubstantiated claims appear to be the result of an unruly telephone game that began as a rumor in a local Facebook group before reaching the highest echelons of conservative media and the Republican Party. They spread far and wide on X, whose owner, Elon Musk, embraced the false rumors and posted several memes promoting them.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the city of Springfield said, “There have been no credible reports or specific allegations that pets have been abused, injured or mistreated by individuals within the immigrant community.”