Ohio’s GOP Governor Has A Message For Trump About ‘Hurtful’ Pet-Eating Lies

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Tuesday said Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s false claims about immigrants are “very hurtful” to the people of Springfield.

“The mayor says there’s no evidence, chief of police says there’s no evidence, city manager says there was no evidence, there’s no evidence. There’s no evidence of this at all,” DeWine said on NewsNation of the assertions that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating cats and dogs in the town.

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo then asked DeWine to address the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate, a U.S. senator from Ohio.

“What is your message to JD Vance and former President Trump? You support them as the Republican ticket. What is your advice to them about what to do with these allegations, about eating pets in Springfield that they keep repeating?” Cuomo asked.

“They’re very hurtful. It’s very hurtful to people, hurtful to the people in Springfield, hurtful to the Haitians who are working every day,” DeWine said.

“Some of them are afraid,” he added.

As for advice, he suggested Trump and Vance speak about immigration issues without leaning into falsehoods.

“I don’t really tell people how to run a campaign,” he said. “I just think that the border is a huge issue. It’s a very legitimate issue. It’s something where I think the Biden administration has not done well and has failed.”

“And I think talking about that makes a lot of sense, and I think that people want to hear about that, but this whole thing about eating dogs and cats … it’s not helpful,” he added.

Last week, Vance amplified the racist pet-eating claim after it circulated in far-right social media circles. He later doubled down even after it had been debunked by local officials. The following day, Trump injected it into the national discourse when he brought it up at the presidential debate, which was watched by an estimated 67 million people.

The baseless remarks have caused chaos and stress for Springfield residents, who have been forced to deal with building evacuations, threats and other security concerns amid intense scrutiny.

Despite enormous backlash, Trump and Vance have continued to cite the lie. While defending himself for spreading the falsehood on Sunday, Vance admitted that he’s happy to “create stories” to attract media attention.