Republican senator-turned-vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance has promoted a false conspiracy theory about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, but the pages of his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy reflect a Vance weary of the impacts of misinformation.
On Sept. 9, Vance took to X, formerly Twitter, to claim that Haitians "who shouldn't be in this country" are stealing and eating the pets of other Springfield residents.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance posted. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
This comes as an estimated 15,000 Haitian immigrants have settled in the region surrounding Springfield, according to the city. City officials have confirmed the migrants are in the country legally, many as recipients of Temporary Protected Status. The rise in population has reportedly put a strain on resources such as housing, health care and education, prompting Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to pledge $2.5 million in state resources to boost health care resources in Springfield. Manufacturing employers told the New York Times last week that Haitians are filling jobs that have boosted the community's struggling economy.
No pets have been harmed
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield confirmed to ABC News that the claims of immigrants eating pets are false, saying there have been "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community." The Springfield News-Sun reported that the unsubstantiated claim first gained traction on social media. Some users claimed a picture of a man carrying a goose was a Haitian in Springfield, but the photo turned out to be taken in Columbus, Ohio. Others shared a video of a woman being questioned by police for allegedly eating her cat, but this took place in Canton, Ohio. NPR reported that similar unsubstantiated claims about Haitians in Springfield first originated on Gab, a far-right social platform, in the form of a comment from a user claiming, "Once Haitians swarm into a town animals start to disappear."One day after posting the false claim about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Vance claimed that his office heard the rumor from Springfield residents directly and admitted the claims might not be true.
“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,” Vance wrote on X. “It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
He goes on to paint a picture of a Springfield in dire distress as a result of Haitian migrants settling in the area, telling reporters and activists to “spare your outrage.” On Sept. 13, Vance again addressed the backlash to his false claims.
"Don't let biased media shame you into not discussing this slow moving humanitarian crisis in a small Ohio town. We shoudl [sic] talk about it every single day, " Vance wrote on X.
According to Hillbilly Elegy
But rewind to Vance’s 2016 memoir, in which he directly calls out “conspiracy-mongers” who convince white working-class voters to believe “the worst of their society.”When he raises this topic in Hillbilly Elegy, Vance is primarily referring to the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen — a lie that was heavily perpetuated by his now-running mate. He also references 9/11 conspiracies from right-wing radio personality Alex Jones, email chains about Obamacare microchips and a story from WorldNetDaily suggesting the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a false flag.
“Admittedly, there is an industry of conspiracy-mongers and fringe lunatics writing about all manner of idiocy…” Vance writes in chapter 11. “With little trust in the press, there’s no check on the internet conspiracy theories that rule the digital world. [...] This isn’t some libertarian mistrust of government policy, which is healthy in any democracy. This is a deep skepticism of the very institutions of our society. And it’s becoming more and more mainstream.”
The same day Vance admitted the rumors may not be true, Trump repeated the lie about Haitians in Springfield during the Sept. 10 presidential debate, saying: “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.”
Days later, a bomb threat was made to “multiple agencies and media outlets” in Springfield, according to the city commission office.
The situation in Springfield comes as the Trump-Vance campaign continues to take heat for the candidate’s connections to Project 2025, a right-wing initiative created by the Heritage Foundation. The project lays out a plan for the first 180 days of a second Trump term. In addition to banning abortion and disbanding the Department of Education, this plan calls for state and local police to help carry out a mass deportation plan.
Read more about Vance's path from Middletown to the Republican ticket in the next issue of CityBeat.
