Walz blasts Vance over migrant pet-eating remarks

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate said he was “surprised” that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) decided to “create stories” about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, to make a point on immigration.

In doing so, the Democratic vice presidential nominee said Vance “vilified a large number of people who were legally here.”

“The Republican governor said it’s not true,” Walz said. “Don’t do it. There are consequences for this. There are consequences … and the consequences in Springfield were the governor had to send state law enforcement to escort kindergartners to school.” 

During the presidential debate in September, former President Trump repeated a falsehood that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield. Trump was repeating information that Vance had posted on social media earlier in the week. 

The claims are not true and were first spread by a neo-Nazi group. After Trump made the claims on the debate stage, Springfield had to shutter its schools and City Hall repeatedly due to bomb threats. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Springfield’s Republican mayor both criticized Vance and Trump for repeating the lies on national television. 

“They’re very hurtful. It’s very hurtful to people,” DeWine told anchor Chris Cuomo. “It’s hurtful to the people in Springfield, hurtful to the Haitians who are working every day.”

Vance responded to Walz on the debate stage by saying that while Walz is “worried about the things I said in Springfield,” he is worried about “the American citizens who have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border” in the city. 

“In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country, you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed. You’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed. You’ve got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said. 

“The people that I’m most worried about in Springfield, Ohio, are the American citizens who have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border. It is a disgrace, Tim,” he added.  

After Vance spoke, CBS moderators read a fact check about Springfield, saying that the city had a “large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status.” 

Vance responded to the fact check by CBS saying that the “rules were that there would be no fact checks.” 

He continued by explaining the process under which the Haitian immigrants in Springfield entered the nation. 

“Since you’re fact checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on,” Vance said. “There’s an application called the CBP One app where you can go on as an illegal migrant, apply for asylum or apply for parole and be granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border law.” 

Vance was referring to Temporary Protected Status, a status enacted by Congress in 1990 that grants migrants whose home countries are considered unsafe the right to live and work in the U.S. for temporary, extendable periods of time. 

Moderators cut both candidates’ mics during the exchange.