House panel sinks teeth into Ohio immigrant pet-eating claims

WASHINGTON — Ahead of a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week on the dangers of crime from illegal immigrants, the panel’s social media account posted a computer-generated photo of former President Donald Trump, in a lake, with a duck and kitten in his arms.

“Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!” the post said, among the first references in Congress to rumors circulating online about Haitian migrants in Ohio capturing and consuming the pet animals of residents there.

It was one of several times last week when some House Republicans, who have spent months focusing on the dangers of crime from illegal immigration, ended up embracing the sensational claim that local officials and some news outlets have since dubbed as unsubstantiated.

Some observers questioned the tactic as an unwanted distraction — particularly when Trump boosted awareness by mentioning it during the presidential debate — but others have defended it as bringing more attention an issue Republicans see as an election advantage.

“It’s nice to see the media finally covering the immigration crisis in Springfield, Ohio,” Russell Dye, spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee, said in an email response to question from CQ Roll Call about the panel’s social media posts.

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, playing defense over spreading claims about pet-eating without verification, said Sunday on CNN his intent for elevating the tales was to “create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people.” Critics have seized on those words as Vance’s admission he knew the claims were made up, but he has disputed that characterization.

The Trump campaign appears to be leaning into it as well. On Thursday, his Instagram account posted a fake image of Trump speaking at a podium with the sign “Cats for Trump” and numerous felines in attendance.

Tom Davis, a Republican strategist and former member of Congress from Virginia, also said House Republicans should continue to green light the pet memes.

“I do not see how talking about immigration hurts Republicans in this environment,” Davis said. “Even over-framing it keeps voters’ attention on the Democrats’ record, which is no longer a border state issue.”

And Gregg Keller, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the American Conservative Union, said anything that keeps the conversation on immigration “totally helps” Trump.

“If you were the Trump campaign, and this thing is going viral, and it’s on an issue like immigration, where the voting public agrees with you by 20 points over the opposition party, then yeah, you’re in a good spot,” Keller said.

Pet messaging

House Republicans have spent years trying to highlight immigration as a serious issue that demands attention.

Their efforts include passing H.R. 2, a tough-on-immigration bill that provides for the construction of a 900-mile-long border wall, limits asylum claims and ends protection for unaccompanied minors who crossed the U.S. southern border.

Other initiatives include impacting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and approving a resolution critical of Vice President Kamala Harris that labels as the “border czar.”

But this was a different approach. The committee posted its first meme photo the morning of Sept. 9, a day before the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.

The same morning, Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and other Republicans on the panel boosted the claims on social media. Jordan wrote that when Trump was in office, “Illegal aliens weren’t eating your pets.” Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., posted: “Cat Lives Matter!”

Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, posted his own video condemning Harris for the immigration policies of the Biden administration complete with images of a row of ducklings, a cat spinning on a record player and footage of individuals complaining about migrants “grabbing up ducks” and eating them.

“We cannot allow our pets to become a hot lunch for Kamala’s newcomers,” Hunt wrote on X. “This November, you can do your part.”

California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell brought a poster of the committee’s Trump-hugging-kitten-and-duck post to the hearing, and spoke of the witnesses testifying about their loved ones murdered by immigrants.

“You’d expect some seriousness, some gravitas, respect for the people who came here,” Swalwell said. “What in the hell is this?”

Going mainstream

Then, in what has emerged as the most standout moment of the presidential debate, Trump repeated the assertion Haitian migrants are hunting and consuming pets in Springfield, Ohio.

“A lot of towns don’t want to talk about it because they’re so embarrassed by it,” Trump said. “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.”

That’s when other memes started to rain down like cats and dogs: Trump saying those lines to song of a trombone; an image of Trump as a Dr. Seuss character carrying cats on plates in a reference to “Green Eggs and Ham;” and a mashup of a segment from a “Simpsons” episode on a burlesque house where the song “Put the Spring in Springfield” is interlaced with his remarks.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asked during a news conference about whether it was appropriate for Trump to bring up unverified claims about migrants eating pets, expressed frustration about the media fixation on the issue.

“All you’re focusing is on this,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve all seen the reports. I can’t verify all of them. We’ve seen the reports, but the main point are the rapes, the murders, the clear and present danger that the Biden-Harris open border policy is creating for this country.”

Much of the refocus from Vance in recent days has been the underlying issues of Springfield, Ohio — a town with a population with fewer than 60,000 — being focused to accommodate the influx of Haitian migrants.

“In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime,” Vance wrote on X. “This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community. Kamala Harris’s immigration policy aims to do this to every town in our country.”

But there has been a dearth of evidence to tie any incidents in Ohio related to animals to broader safety concerns of Americans about Haitians or illegal immigration. And there has been other fallout. Bombs threats have reportedly been made to the city hall, forcing officials there to evacuate, and local schools were cancelled because of similar warnings.

Vice President Kamala Harris drew on these threats during an interview on Wednesday, saying the local community has been “put in fear” and the fallout is “a crying shame.”

“My heart breaks for this community,” Harris said. Harris added the claims were “not new in terms of these tropes, not new in terms of where it’s coming from,” making references to other incidents of Trump’s background when he faced criticism for being racist.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has said the 33 separate bomb threats were “found as hoax” and none “had any validity at all,” blaming people “overseas” for them.

Kyle Kondik, an analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said in a political sense the animal memes may hurt Republicans as much as they help.

“Republicans believe they have a big advantage on immigration and they want to make the issue as salient as possible,” Kondik said. “It’s also clear from advertising that Republicans are attacking on the issue and Democrats are largely playing defense. This attack, in particular, though, is pretty ugly, and I wonder if it repels as much as it attracts.”

Musk and Legend

The day after the debate the House Judiciary Committee account posted another computer-generated photo, with animals that look like half-cats and half-ducks swimming in a lake, a strange flag flying on the shore. “Save them,” the post states.

Elon Musk, who’s become a supporter of Trump, later interacted with the tweet with an emoticon with a face with hearts as the response.

Others have questioned the potential impact of demonizing the Haitian community. John Legend, a Democratic activist and musician who hails from Springfield, posted a video online acknowledging the economic plight of his hometown, but also defending the migrants.

“The bottom line is these people came to Springfield because there were jobs for them, and they were willing to work, and they wanted to live the American Dream,” Legend said.

Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, posted on social media Thursday to criticize Democrats for being indignant over animals but not people suffering harm.

“If you say an illegal alien ate an animal, Democrats are outraged,” Gooden said. “If an illegal alien murders an innocent American, Democrats are silent. Despicable.”