In the range In a matter of days, a racist slur against migrants of color has made it from the fever swamps of the online right into the national presidential debate. On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump accused Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, of killing and eating community pets during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

The tirade came after Harris had teased Trump about his rallies, urging Americans to listen to him talk about Hannibal Lecter and telling windmill conspiracy theories to his supporters who left the event early out of boredom. Trump couldn’t help but defend himself, baselessly accusing Harris of paying people to attend her rallies. He then desperately pivoted to the immigration issue – to put it kindly.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs – the people who came here – they’re eating the cats,” Trump ranted. “They’re eating the pets of the people who live there, and that’s what’s happening in our county.”

ABC anchor David Muir made a point of verifying Trump’s statements in real time. “ABC News reached out to the city manager (in Springfield). He told us there were no credible reports of specific allegations that pets belonging to individuals from the immigrant community had been injured or mistreated,” Muir said.

Trump replied that he had “seen people on TV.”

“People on TV are saying my dog ​​was kidnapped and used as food,” he added. It is unclear which reports the former president was referring to.

Since the pandemic, up to 20,000 Haitians have legally immigrated to Springfield to work in factories and warehouses. For days, Republicans – including Trump and his running mate JD Vance – have been spreading a racist lie accusing Haitian migrants of eating cats, ducks and other pets in Springfield.

Springfield police said they had not received any reports of such incidents, and city operations director Karen Graves said, “There have been no credible reports or specific allegations that pets belonging to individuals from the immigrant community have been harmed, injured or mistreated.”

According to two sources close to Trump, the former president has been advised in recent days that if the issue comes up during the debate in Philadelphia, he should draw on the story of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, who died in a highly publicized car crash involving a Haitian immigrant.

“This is a much harder blow for the parents who are following (the debate) than the stuff about the cats,” one of the sources said on Tuesday.

But during this portion of the presidential debate, Trump stuck to what he knows: internet-based disinformation and viral content.

Nathan Clark, Aidan’s father, has made it clear that he does not agree with the political exploitation of his son’s death. “Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose,” Clark said in a speech to the Springfield City Commission on Tuesday.

“This has to stop now,” Clark added. “I will listen to them again and hear their apologies.”