The White House warned Tuesday that debunked claims about Haitian immigrants harming household pets could spill over into anti-immigrant violence, as Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance vowed to keep spreading the rumor.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing with reporters that the false claims about immigrants were a “dangerous” variety of conspiracy theory.
“This kind of disinformation is dangerous because there will be people that believe it no matter how ludicrous and stupid it is,” he said. “And they might act on that kind of information and act on it in a way where somebody could get hurt. So, it needs to stop.”
The rumor that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets has spread widely on social media and has focused on Springfield, Ohio, a city with a large population of recent immigrants. Police there issued a statement Monday knocking down the claims, saying “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Kirby said a more meaningful topic of discussion would be how to help the people fleeing Haiti’s gang conflict and political turmoil.
“What’s deeply concerning to us is you’ve got now elected officials in the Republican Party pushing yet another conspiracy theory that’s just seeking to divide people based on lies and, let’s be honest, based on an element of racism,” he said.
