Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stood by claims Wednesday that immigrants were eating pets in Ohio, telling Latino voters during a town hall that he was “just saying what was reported.”
In recent weeks Trump has promoted a false claim that has gone viral that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents’ pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.
There are no credible reports of Haitians eating pets, and officials in Ohio – including Republicans – have repeatedly said the story is false.
At a town hall hosted by Univision, an undecided Latino Republican voter from the battleground state of Arizona asked Trump if he really believed immigrants were eating pets.
During the event in Miami, Trump responded, “I was just saying what was reported. I just report.” “I was there, I’ll be there and we’ll see.”
Trump said “newspapers” had also reported on the claim without naming anyone or providing any details.
Trump, who has not yet visited Springfield, has previously said he would pursue mass deportation of Haitian immigrants from the Ohio city, even though most of them are in the US legally.
The city has faced bomb threats since Trump began repeating false allegations about Haitians.
In the final weeks before the November 5 election, Trump has been resorting to darker and more violent language about illegal immigration, an issue that opinion polls show resonates with many voters, especially Republicans.
He is competing against Democrat Kamala Harris for the key votes of the growing Latino population. Latino voters have generally supported Democrats, but the Trump campaign is hoping to win over more Latino voters, especially men, because of economic dissatisfaction.
Harris led Trump by eight percentage points — 47% to 39% — among Hispanic voters in the Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between September 11 and October 7.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
