Donald Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants in the United States are eating pets may have elicited laughs from presidential debate viewers, but the origin and spreading of the debunked claim has a darker genesis.

Trump made the bizarre claim after Harris baited him with a comment about his crowd sizes, resulting in the Republican candidate launching into a bizarre rant.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said.

“The people that came in, they’re eating the cats … they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, spread the conspiracy theory online by claiming he had received “inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbours’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants”.

“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumours will turn out to be false,” he said.

“Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”

JD Vance played a key role in promoting and spreading the debunked claim that Haitians are eating house pets. Photo: Getty

As other Republicans shared similar posts and claims, the father of the 11-year-old boy who was killed in a collision with a minivan –who Vance referenced in his social media post – called for Vance and Trump to stop using his accidental death for “political gain”.

“I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man,” he said.

“I bet you never thought anyone would say something so blunt, but if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone.”

Claim debunked

Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio and an ardent Trump supporter, said Trump and Vance were incorrect about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets.

“This is something that came up on the internet and the internet can be crazy sometimes, but Mayor [Bryan] Heck of Springfield said there is no truth in that,” he said.

“These Haitians came in to work and fill jobs because there were a lot of jobs and if you talk to employers, they do a good job and work hard.”

Heck also put out a statement that clarified there were “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community”.

The local police department also confirmed that no reports had been made by residents matching what was described by Vance and Trump.

The Springfield News-Sun reported that an allegation of cat-eating had occurred in Canton, Ohio, but the person involved was not an immigrant.

Dark origins

The debunked story seems to have darker origins: A known neo-nazi group in Springfield made the earliest known mention of Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets, making the claim at a council meeting.

A member of Blood Tribe, a white supremacist group that has marched through Springfield with swastikas on display, claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating ducks at the park before another claimed that animals had started disappearing “once Haitians swarm into town” online, according to NPR.