Vance Seems To Backtrack, Admits Rumors About Haitian Immigrants Could Be False

J.D. Vance and cats are a bad combination.

In the weeks after he was named Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Vance’s old comments about “childless cat ladies” resurfaced and led to a round of bad press, especially when it exposed some of Vance’s ties to some unsavory parts of the online right.

Now, Vance is at the center of another cat story that might be even uglier than the previous one.

In recent weeks, rumors have spread, especially on Elon Musk’s X, about supposed trouble being caused by a group of Haitian immigrants in the small town of Springfield, Ohio. Less-than-reliable accounts have stated that these “illegal” immigrants have been imported to that town by the Biden-Harris Administration and that some of them have been caught abducting and eating cats and other pets.

There is just about no truth to any of this. Most Haitian immigrants in that town have temporary protected status and are not “illegal.” The city government released a statement to the media that “we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

There was a report of an Ohio woman arrested for eating a cat, but the woman was not of Haitian origin, not an immigrant, and was based in Canton, which is 172 miles from Springfield.

So the story has been thoroughly debunked. But if you’re on social media this week, especially X, you’ve likely seen numerous posts — including by Elon Musk himself — seeking to create the impression that there are Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, who are stealing and eating cats- and that the election of a Trump-Vance ticket is the only thing that can stop it.

Cats for Trump! pic.twitter.com/N3vfkuGiXA

— Lolly (@terraverde) September 9, 2024

It’s a true mask-off moment for the MAGA movement, which has long sought to deny any implication of wanton racial prejudice.

Now, J.D. Vance, who is a U.S. Senator from Ohio, has weighed in. Not to stop the spread of a bogus, deeply racist moral panic, but rather to fan the flames:

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. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.

Do you know…

— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 10, 2024

Vance acknowledges that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” before diving back into the conspiracy maw anyway. He blames the immigrants in Ohio for a fatal car accident in which the driver was Haitian, for “communicable diseases–like TB and HIV,” and for rising rents.

And despite acknowledging that the cat thing may not be true, he closes with this:

In short, don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots.

Keep the cat memes flowing.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 10, 2024

Vance’s conclusion, in other words, is that the cat-eating story may be a lie, but at least it’s a fun lie, and his supporters should keep telling that lie.