In less than 24 hours, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance turned an idiotic, racist conspiracy theory about people of color eating neighborhood pets into an actual threat.
The Republican vice presidential candidate added fuel to the fire of the inane conspiracy on Tuesday, specifically targeting Haitian migrants—and Vice President Kamala Harris’s aid for the community—as the root cause for the imaginary problem.
“In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants,” Vance wrote on X. “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
But the utter lack of proof didn’t stop him from intensifying his target on the vulnerable population.
“Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here,” Vance continued. “That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases—like TB and HIV—have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head.”
Vance then shared a clip of Harris on ABC’s The View in which the vice president explained how the Biden administration had granted temporary protected status to “over 100,000 Haitian migrants” on the basis that they “need support” and “protection.”
But the MAGA Republican, who has become a political punchline for his weird and disturbing remarks since being announced as Trump’s number two pick, couldn’t empathize with the disenfranchised group.
“If you’re a reporter, or an activist, who didn’t give a shit about these suffering Americans until yesterday, I have some advice: Spare your outrage for your fellow citizens suffering under Kamala Harris’s policies,” Vance wrote. “Be outraged at yourself for letting this happen.”
Vance concluded by praising the bonkers, A.I.-generated images of Donald Trump holding kittens that have sprung out of this conspiracy.
“In short, don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing,” he wrote.
Alongside the violent rant, Vance—the husband of a second-generation immigrant—made simultaneous posts accusing the Haitians of “draining social services” and “generally causing chaos.”
The bonkers conspiracy appears to have sprung up from a Facebook post that contained no evidence of wrongdoing, according to the local newspaper, the Springfield News-Sun. Local police have not received any reports of pets being killed and eaten.
A recent report of an Ohio woman who allegedly killed and ate a cat added heat to the tall tale, though she turned out to be a U.S. citizen.
