Trump defends lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets by claiming he was just “saying what was reported.”

Donald Trump refused to admit he falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating people’s pets as he doubled down on his remarks during a Univision town hall with undecided Latino voters Wednesday, despite heaps of reports that disproved his claims.

A Spanish-speaking assistant asked the former president if he really believed what he was saying. He responded by saying he was “just saying what was reported.”

“That’s just been reported. He was just saying what was reported, that’s been reported, and eating other things, too, that shouldn’t be,” Trump responded.

“But that’s…all I do is report. I haven’t…I was there, I’ll be there, and we’ll have a look, and when I do, I’ll give you a full report, but this has been in the papers and he has informed quite broadly,” he added.

During his first and only debate with Kamala Harris last month, Trump amplified a racist rumor that immigrants in Springfield kidnap neighbors’ pets and eat them, adding to his trove of false and inflated claims and anti-immigrant rhetoric who has dominated their campaigns.

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people who live there,” he said at the time.

Pressed by debate moderators, he said he saw people on TV claiming “his dog was eaten by the people who were there”.

Law enforcement and Springfield city officials have strongly denied the claims, which appeared to fuel death threats as well as hoax bomb threats that temporarily closed schools and city buildings and forced hospitals into lockdown – if

The source of the claim appears to be a Facebook post amplified by right-wing social media accounts and conspiracy theory. Posts by Elon Musk and Trump’s running mate JD Vance have been viewed millions of times.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who supports Trump, wrote an op-ed The New York Times standing up for Springfield’s immigrants, who live there legally, and giving the city an economic boost amid a declining population and depressed business outlook as the city’s workforce dwindled, he said.

“As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat unsubstantiated claims and disparage legal immigrants living in Springfield,” DeWine wrote. “This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there.”