Trump's Controversial AI-Generated Cat Images and False Claims About Immigrants Eating Pets

Why Is Trump Posting So Many AI Cat Pictures

Trump is causing real-world harm to the Haitian community in Ohio. When Donald Trump said during the presidential debate on Tuesday that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs in Ohio, it was probably the first time most Americans had ever heard such a ridiculous thing. But it's clear it won't be the last time if our dumbest living president has his way. The idea that migrants to the U.S. are eating pets is a lie, of course. It's a lie that bubbled up from the worst corners of the internet before being repeated by a man who wants to become the most powerful person in the world again. And it's now become obvious that Trump is going to keep repeating that lie on TV, at his rallies and using AI-generated images on Truth Social to help make his insidiously racist point. “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," Trump said during the debate against Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Police in Springfield have denied that any reports exist of anyoneâ€"let alone migrants in the townâ€"stealing and eating household pets. But that hasn't stopped a torrent of abuse and intimidation from descending on the town's immigrant community. Several buildings in Springfield received bomb threats on Thursday, forcing an elementary school and City Hall to shut down for the day as a precautionary measure. Trump helped bring national attention to Springfield, Ohio, and it's been quite a nightmare for residents there. One father whose son was killed in a car accident asked the former president to stop using his son as a political weapon during a city council meeting on September 10. The Haitian Times also reports that some migrants who live in Springfield are being terrorized by right-wing extremists who are vandalizing cars. One woman reported that her car even had acid poured on it and said she was afraid to leave her home. “I’m going to have to move because this area is no longer good for me,†the woman told the Haitian Times. “I can’t even leave my house to go to Walmart. I’m anxious and scared.†The city manager of Springfield, Bryan Heck, posted a video on Facebook about the "misinformation circulating on social media" that had been "further amplified by the political rhetoric in the current, highly charged presidential election cycle." Heck didn't mention Trump by name, but he didn't have to. The Republican candidate for president is the one who's brought this garbage to the mainstream after it percolated on Facebook, 4Chan, Truth Social, and Elon Musk's X. And a presidential debate watched by roughly 67 million people on Tuesday helped catapult it to new heights. Like all media in 2024, this kind of propaganda works within a kind of feedback loop. The worst of humanity spreads some far-right lies in places like X, a site that's been overrun by Nazis ever since Musk bought the site in late 2022. Then Trump helps elevate it onto traditional media channels before it makes its way back to the internet. Audio from Trump's insane ramblings quickly became a meme, both during and after the debate, and continued to get remixed on more mainstream social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. JD Vance, Trump's running mate and all-around weird guy, did his part as well, spreading the racist bullshit on X both before and after the debate. Vance claimed that his office had gotten calls about incidents where migrants had eaten pets, but he provided no evidence for that claim and admitted in the tweet "It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." And as a reporter at PBS Newshour mentioned while reporting on Vance's nonsense, you have to ask yourself one simple question: who seems like the person you'd call if your pet was stolen? The police, who reported that no incidents like this have occurred in Springfield or your local member of Congress? Trump posted a number of AI-generated images about the slanderous lies against migrants Thursday on Truth Social. Many of the images featured cats, including one that read, “Don’t let them eat us, vote for Trump!†and another that read, "Kamala hates me.†One older man outside Trump's rally in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday was spotted with a sign that looked identical to one of the AI images Trump shared on Truth Social. The image depicts Trump running away from two Black men while carrying cats. The text on the racist sign reads, "Make Pets SAFE Again." The rally inside was particularly hateful, even by Trump standards. And it was just the latest sign that Trump wants to make these lies about migrants a regular part of his stump speech. The former president talked repeatedly about Springfield, Ohio, insisting that Haitians are "destroying their way of life" in that community. Trump talks a big game, but for all his bluster picking on migrants, he's clearly terrified of Harris. Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that he wouldn't be participating in another debate with his Democratic opponent, despite her campaign asking for another debate. Trump wrote a very long-winded build-up, giving excuse after non-sensical excuse, before finally dropping the news in all-caps. "KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!" Trump wrote. Trump is doing poorly in the polls, with new surveys taken after the debate and published Thursday showing Harris with a strong lead in the national tally. A new poll from Morning Consult has Harris at 50% and Trump at 45%. A poll from Ipsos released Thursday had Harris 47% and Trump 42%. And Harris is doing much better when you look at likely voters rather than just registered voters, a group that probably features many registered Republicans who will stay home on Election Day because their candidate is such an embarrassing loser. A new YouGov/Times poll had Harris 49% and Trump 45% among likely voters, and up just one point, Harris 46% and Trump 45% among registered voters. Nobody knows for certain who's going to win on November 5. But we can say with some confidence that Trump is going to get increasingly desperate with his attacks on immigrants, women, and who knows what other vulnerable group he sets his sights on. With any luck, the American public will ignore him and we can get out of this thing without any violence. But if the tone and tenor of Trump's rally in Arizona is any guide, the former president is poised to hurt a lot of people before he vanishes from the public eye.

The origins of Trump's Claim That Immigrants are Eating Pets

"In Springfield, they are eating the dogs," Trump said, repeating an internet conspiracy involving Haitian immigrants that has been debunked by news organizations this week. "They're eating the cats," Trump said onstage during the ABC debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Local police have said there is no evidence to substantiate those claims. The claim is the latest in a series of exaggerations or moments that when challenged with facts, Trump or his top lieutenants refuse to abandon. The pet rumors started with a Facebook post, citing the poster's "neighbor's daughter's friend," according to local police. The original poster didn't cite firsthand knowledge of an incident, Springfield Police said in a statement Monday. The post claimed that a pet cat had been found hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor's home after being carved up to be eaten. Harris shook her head and laughed as Trump continued to promote the rumor, which was also repeated this week by his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and amplified by conservative media. Debate moderator David Muir told Trump that the network had checked with Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck, who said there are no reports of pets being harmed by immigrants. When again told it wasn't true, Trump said: "But the people on television say their dog was eaten by the people that went there." There is evidence that an influx of migrants to the small city of about 59,000 people has put a strain on Springfield's resources. About 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city since 2020, many using a program that gives them temporary protected status. Trump made several inaccurate claims about immigrants during the debate, including the suggestion that the equivalent of the population of the state of New York (20 million people) have entered the country since President Biden took office. The Wall Street Journal's recent analysis has found that about 10 million immigrants have come to the U.S. in the past four years, though a large chunk of those are people who entered on Green Cards or other visas. For some Republicans, Trump's debate performance was a sign the campaign is losing focus. "It's gimmicky and there isn't any teeth to it," said one House GOP lawmaker, adding that Republicans have spent time attacking Harris for "not defining her policy, so this is not helpful." Conservative commentators were angered by Trump's falsehoods, seemingly frustrated the former president had been misled by rumors on social media. "You stupid mf'ers just got Trump to repeat your lie about the pets," Erick Erickson, a conservative talk radio host based in Atlanta, wrote on X shortly after the debate. "Congrats on setting the news stories tomorrow by lying so Trump picks it up" and says stupid things. Republicans complained that the moderators weren't fair to Trump during the debate. "The moderators might as well be on the DNC payroll. This is ridiculous," said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham."This is the worst moderated debate in history," Darrell Issa, a California Republican representative, said. Trump's comments quickly flooded social media, with users reposting memes and AI-generated images of Trump cuddling up to various animals. In one AI caricature, he is seen saving a large ginger cat from a burning building. Trump reposted one of the fake images to his Truth Social account late Tuesday, depicting him on a private jet surrounded by cats and ducks. "These two are so online they have lost touch with what the vast majority of us are talking about," said Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, a Democrat in a competitive House seat where Vance lives. "The idea that Vance perpetuated this ridiculous and racist conspiracy theory that Haitians who are here because they might have been killed with the unrest in Haiti are going around and taking people's cats and eating them is so insane."

Fact checking Trump: No migrants aren't eating pets

Donald Trump's attempt to attack Vice President Kamala Harris with a widely debunked online falsehood about Haitian migrants backfired on the Republican nominee, becoming one of the signature moments of their first -- and possibly only -- debate. Halfway through their encounter Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Trump assailed Harris over US border policy and claimed that migrants in the Ohio city of Springfield were "eating the pets of the people that live there." ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city's manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants. Trump's assertion echoed apocryphal stories circulating worldwide on X and other social media sites that Haitian migrants in Springfield were behind a wave of local crime and to blame for the disappearances of cats and dogs. Supporters of the former president -- including X owner Elon Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on the platform -- promoted and reposted the claims in the days before the debate. The episode highlighted the risk for political candidates, including Trump and his right-leaning allies, of embracing conspiracy theories that don't survive the light of day off social media. It quickly turned into a focus of derision toward Trump and a symbol of everything that had gone wrong for the former president during his debate with Harris. By Wednesday morning he was signaling that there might not be a rematch. Trump has been trying to emphasize immigration in his campaign against Harris and pivoted to it often during the debate, but repeating the falsehood about the Haitian immigrants in Ohio won't help the former president, said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and veteran of Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign. "At best, it's a distraction," Conant said. "At worst, it reminds people of the all the craziness that comes with Trump." The situation in Springfield had been "largely ignored by the liberal mainstream media until now," said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. "President Trump will continue giving a voice to Americans who are expressing their concerns about the influx of illegals and rising migrant crime in their communities." Prominent personalities often seize on trending narratives to find an audience or appeal to their existing followers, according to experts who study disinformation. The ultimate goal often is to amplify their rhetoric, rather than promote talking points based on truth, they said. "Often times we will see influencers capitalize on conspiracy theories and falsehoods to manipulate or influence public discourse or opinion, even when they don't believe them because the narratives themselves are preposterous," said Lisa Kaplan, founder and chief executive officer of Alethea, an anti-misinformation firm. "This is typically done for political, personal, or financial gain -- and to generate more engagement online." Trump's comments did appeal to the audience he intended: fans on X, who responded by generating memes using artificial intelligence, which depicted cats, dogs and geese pleading with voters to save them by choosing Trump. Some of those same concepts were used to mock Trump for believing something so extreme. The conversation is part of a trend on the network, fueled by its owner, Musk, to embrace anti-immigrant sentiment. Musk, who backs Trump for president, previously came under fire for supporting false content that led to violence against migrants in the UK. "The campaign apparently hopes that spreading claims like these, regardless of accuracy, will foment public hostility toward migrants," said Jared Holt, senior research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. "Hate against migrants and minorities has produced a bloody trail of tragedies in the United States, and leaders who encourage those hostilities create risks for the people they target." Since Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and remade it into X, he has pushed an anything-goes approach to content on the platform, including by sharply reducing the staff moderating content and by embracing conspiracies himself. Rumors about Haitian migrants in Springfield were also amplified on X by Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, in posts on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the debate that logged millions of views. About 15,000 Haitians have come to Springfield legally in the past several years under temporary protected status as they flee poverty and violence in their home country. Their arrival has overwhelmed the health-care system and public services in the city of 58,000, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Tuesday. DeWine called on the federal government to do more to support communities affected by such surges but cautioned against blaming the Haitian immigrants. "Haitians who are here are hard-working people," DeWine said during a news conference in Columbus before the debate. "They came to Springfield, Ohio, for work, and many, many, many of them are working and filling positions in Springfield."

How Trump's claims of immigrants eating pets started and spiralled online

Fifty-five miles from Springfield, Ohio, a man was pictured walking down the road holding a goose. Meanwhile, 170 miles from Springfield, a "lifelong resident" of another Ohio town was arrested for allegedly killing and eating a cat. And at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, 514 miles from Springfield, Donald Trump claimed Haitian migrants are "eating the pets" of the Ohio town's residents. Sky News has tracked how an unverified rumour spread online, taking in unrelated incidents and half-truths, repackaged and amplified on social media. A community meeting The first mention of claims of Haitian migrants eating animals appears to have been made at a community meeting on 27 August. Local Springfield resident Anthony Harris, a man describing himself as a social media influencer, said immigrants were in the park grabbing ducks by their necks, cutting their heads off and walking off with them to "eat them". A post on a local Facebook crime-watch group made a similar claim. The poster told a fourth-hand story about her "neighbour's daughter's friend", whose cat had allegedly been strung up from a tree and slaughtered for food outside a house where Haitian people lived. Again, no evidence was provided for either the death of the animal or the nationality of the people allegedly involved. But the post was screenshotted and went viral on social media, with the rumour picked up by X owner Elon Musk, Texas senator Ted Cruz, Conservative pundit Charlie Kirk and right-wing activist Jack Posobiec. Musk shared multiple posts about the claims, including what appeared to be an AI image of a kitten and a duckling with the caption "Save them!". Data from social media monitoring tool Talkwalker shows posts on X mentioning both pets and Haitians began to gain traction on 6 September, which appears to be when the Facebook post was first shared. Mentions spiked on 9 September, coinciding with Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance posting on X about reports of people having pets "abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country". He doubled down on this the next day with a post about "actual residents of Springfield" contacting his office saying "their neighbours' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants". Posts peaked that day as Mr Trump repeated the claims in Tuesday evening's presidential debate. In the last week, there have been more than 810,000 posts on X mentioning both pets and Haitians, which have been engaged with almost six million times. Posts mentioning pets and Springfield add another 500,000 posts with more than four million engagements. Months-old Reddit post used to fuel rumours One of the most influential posts came from the X account End Wokeness, which posted a screenshot of the Facebook group post alongside a photo of a man carrying a goose. The post claimed 20,000 immigrants had arrived in the city under the Biden administration, and "now ducks and pets are disappearing". It was reposted 20,000 times and gained almost five million views. But the photo was not taken in Springfield. Sky News has geolocated the photo to Cleveland Avenue in the state capital of Columbus, 55 miles away. It was posted on Reddit two months ago. The person who took the photo told ABC News he was surprised to see his image used to "push false narratives". The image has subsequently been used by media outlets promoting claims of animals being taken and eaten. Bodycam shows woman arrested over animals - but she's not Haitian Some social media posts use bodycam footage of a woman's arrest for allegedly killing and eating a cat to support the online narratives. But that happened 170 miles away in Canton, Ohio. However, Canton police spokesperson Dennis Garren confirmed the suspect in the case is "not a Haitian immigrant" but a "lifelong Canton resident". The graphic video shows Allexis Telia Ferrell, who allegedly killed and ate a cat, being arrested on 16 August. Stark County Commons Pleas Court records for Ferrell show she was charged with cruelty to companion animals. Narratives 'skewed by misinformation' Mr Trump's claims at the debate were immediately challenged by the moderator David Muir, who said Springfield city manager Bryan Heck disputed the claims. Mr Heck gave a news conference on Wednesday, saying "narratives around our city have been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by politic rhetoric". Springfield Police Division also said they had received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten. "In response to recent rumours alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," the police said in a statement emailed to Sky News' US partner NBC News. Ohio's Republican governor Mike DeWine also weighed in to say the claims were based on rumour. Read more from Sky News: Trump's pet-eating debate moment the talk of the town How body language spoke as loudly as words in presidential debate How an 11-year-old's death became part of the story While most of this happened in the last week, it's also worth looking back to August 2023, when 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a crash between a school bus and a minivan driven by a Haitian man without a licence. About 15,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield in the past few years and the community now makes up 15% of the city's population. But the swelling population hasn't come without tension, and Aiden's death was a flashpoint. It was seized on by both Mr Vance and the Trump campaign this week. On Monday, an account linked to the Trump campaign posted about Aiden on X. The following day, Mr Vance repeated the claims about pets being eaten by Haitian migrants, with the caveat it was "possible" the rumours "will turn out to be false". But what was "confirmed", he added, was "that a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here". Aiden's father, Nathan Clark, responded to this during a Springfield city commission meeting on Tuesday in Springfield, saying his son was "not murdered" but "was accidentally killed". He said politicians have "used [Aiden's] death for political gain" adding "this needs to stop now". "They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio," he said. Mr Vance, who is a senator for Ohio, added the Haitian community had "caused a lot of problems" in the area. "It's led to animals disappearing," he said. "Many of my constituents have said that has been happening. "The city manager said there's no verifiable evidence. A lot of residents on the ground have said there is. That just means the city manager, I think, isn't in touch with what's going on on the ground there." He went on to reiterate he'd spoken to residents who had seen geese being taken out of local ponds and slaughtered. Mr Vance did not respond to Sky News' request for comment. In an emailed statement to Sky News, Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, said "the stories of the very real suffering and tragedies experienced by the people of Springfield, Ohio... have been largely ignored by the liberal mainstream media until now". Mr Trump "will continue giving a voice to Americans who are expressing their concerns about the influx of illegals and rising migrant crime in their communities", she added.

At debate, Trump shares falsehoods about pet-eating, infanticide

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Immigrants eating pets. Democrats in favor of executing newborn babies. Israel ceasing to exist under a potential Kamala Harris presidency. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made numerous false assertions or extreme statements during Tuesday's debate with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, several times prompting a correction from the moderators. Perhaps most striking was Trump amplifying a false claim that has gone viral that numerous Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents' pets or taking wildlife from parks for food. "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," Trump said during the debate. Harris laughed and shook her head. The moderator said there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed. Trump countered that he had seen TV interviews of people who said their dogs had been taken and eaten. The Biden White House earlier on Tuesday condemned the viral misinformation, which Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance, also shared. The White House said such remarks sought to divide Americans through lies and was based on racism. Trump repeated his falsehood that millions of migrants were pouring into the United States from foreign prisons and mental institutions. "They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently," Trump said. Migrants have not staged any violent takeovers of American towns. Some of Harris' claims were exaggerated or disputed by Trump, a Reuters Fact Check found, although the review did not flag major falsehoods on her end. In one instance, Harris cited Trump as saying there would be a "bloodbath" if he was not elected, a reference to a March 2024 speech, opens new tab he gave in Dayton, Ohio. The Trump campaign later said that he was referring to the fate of the auto industry under the Biden administration. INFANTICIDE, ISRAEL, CRIME Trump also reiterated a falsehood - which he often shares at his rallies - that Democrats are so extreme on abortion rights that they support killing newborns. "Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth," Trump said of Harris's running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Harris has said she backs reinstating the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that recognized women's constitutional right to abortion at up to around 24 to 28 weeks. Harris and Walz do not support executing babies. Later, during a discussion on the Middle East, Trump said Harris "hates" Israel. "If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now," Trump said, without sharing any evidence for such a claim. "The whole place is going to get blown up ... Israel will be gone." Harris said it was "absolutely not true" that she hated Israel and said she had supported the country throughout her career. Trump also said crime rates were down globally, except in the United States, where he said rates were "through the roof." FBI data released in March showed homicides across the U.S. dropped by more than 13% in 2023, declining for the second consecutive year after a precipitous spike during the coronavirus pandemic. The data is at odds with the public perception that crime is worsening, however. Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Alexandra Ulmer Thomson Reuters Alexandra covers the 2024 U.S. presidential race, with a focus on Republicans, donors and AI. Previously, she spent four years in Venezuela reporting on the humanitarian crisis and investigating corruption. She has also worked in India, Chile and Argentina. Alexandra was Reuters' Reporter of the Year and has won an Overseas Press Club award.