Ohio’s governor has disputed Donald Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants in a town are eating the pets of other residents.
During Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris, the presidential hopeful 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.
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“And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
The state’s Republican governor Mike DeWine – along with a number of Springfield officials – have said the claims were based on rumours.
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“I think we should take the word of the city manager and the mayor that they’ve found no credible evidence of that story – of Haitians eating cats,” Mr DeWine said.
“I think it’s important for us to really focus in Springfield – and this is what we have done – on what’s important.
“Take a community where they now have an additional 15,000 people come in and that’s very unusual.
“It creates particular challenges that we can work on and that’s what we are doing.”
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Mr Trump was pulled up on the claims during the debate with the moderator insisting that local officials had reported no credible reports of such incidents.
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Ms Harris, who could be seen laughing and saying “this is unbelievable”, responded when it was her turn: “Talk about extreme.”
