Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands by his comments about pets allegedly eaten by immigrants at a campaign rally for Latino voters in Miami. “I just said what was reported,” Trump said at a Univision town hall on Wednesday. “And they eat other things they shouldn’t eat.” Trump was referring to his comments that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing pets or eating wild animals in parks.
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Donald Trump threatens Haitians with mass deportation
Local authorities dismissed this as false. “There are no credible reports of Haitians eating pets,” a police spokesman said. The city has received bomb threats since Trump repeated his false accusations against Haitians.
The ex-president also announced mass deportations of Haitians if he were elected. When asked by a farmworker about the impact on agriculture, Trump dodged and claimed that African Americans and Hispanics were losing jobs because of illegal immigration. He repeated unsubstantiated claims that Latin American countries were emptying mental hospitals and prisons to send people to the United States.
Trump’s appearance in Miami was aimed at attracting Latino voters for the Nov. 5 presidential election. However, polls show that his Democratic challenger Kamala Harris currently leads this group of voters 47 percent to 39 percent.
