Is Santa's Little Helper OK? The Simpsons’ pet dog is going viral after Trump-Harris debate

When Donald Trump’s favourite topic – immigration – was brought up in last night’s debate, the former president began to ramble about immigrants killing and eating people’s pets. 

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” said Trump. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” 

This unhinged claim, which has been debunked and ridiculed, originated with a viral video of a resident of Springfield, Ohio, claiming before the town’s council that immigrants had killed ducks from a local park for food.  

The unsubstantiated accusation spread on rightwing accounts and evolved into a viral meme of AI-generated Trump appearing to protect animals.

Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance echoed the rumour about Haitian migrants eating people’s pets, posting on X: “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 tsar?” 

During the debate, a stunned Harris laughed in disbelief while moderator David Muir was quick to fact-check him. 

“You bring up Springfield, Ohio, and ABC News did reach out to the city manager there,” said Muir. “He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” 

Trump protested by saying that he had seen stories on TV about pets being eaten: “People on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food,’ so maybe he said that and maybe that’s a good thing to say for a city manager.”

The dog-eating comments made by Trump, which are dangerous for Haitians in the US and even hark back to hateful stereotypes regarding Asian immigrants, join the Republican candidate’s frequent compari