Hannibal Lector Cannibal
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kamala debate kick butt you will hear about fictional char but not you
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an 7 25
During a press conference at a new immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem used her remarks to share a strange and graphic story about a cannibal who was being deported.
The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that while visiting the facility — dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" — alongside President Donald Trump, Noem defended the new detention facility as necessary in order to remove criminals from the United States. As a way of illustrating the character of the people the Trump administration says it's focused on deporting, the DHS secretary recounted one deportation flight in which a man allegedly engaged in cannibalism — on himself.
"We are going after murderers and rapists and traffickers and drug dealers and getting them off the streets and getting them out of this country because [former President] Joe Biden let the worst of the worst to come in here," Noem said. "The other day, I was talking to some marshals that had been partnering with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. They said that they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home and while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself. And they had to get him off and get him medical attention."
READ MORE:GOP 'going to suffer': Senate Republicans slammed after Trump bill narrowly passes
"These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America that we're trying to target and get out of our country, because they are so deranged they don't belong here," she added.
Noem's claim about the alleged cannibal on the deportation flight has yet to be verified, but some of the more recent immigration arrests cast doubt on the administration's narrative that they're exclusively targeting "the worst of the worst." One 64 year-old Iranian woman who was recently arrested while gardening at her home in New Orleans, Louisiana by plainclothes agents had been in the U.S. for 47 years and had no criminal record.
Last month in Culver City, California, federal agents arrested local vendor Ambrocio Lozano, who was known for selling ice cream out of a cart for roughly two decades to the local community. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove said Lozano was "snatched, kidnapped, by folks masked in unmarked cars with no warrants."
The "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in South Florida is expected to hold up to 5,000 people at one time, on an abandoned airfield in the middle of swampland surrounded by alligators and dangerous snakes. Trump quipped that immigrants running from alligators shouldn't "run in a straight line."
READ MORE:'That's not true and you know that': CNN host shuts down MAGA guest in front of viewers
Watch the video of Noem's comments below, or byclicking this link.
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September 19, 2024, edition of Loomer Unleashed streamed on Rumble
LAURA LOOMER (HOST): Go online and type in Haitian cannibals; you'll see for yourself. A cannibal gang and its barbecue leader pushed Haiti into chaos. So, no, Jimmy Kimmel is lying. He's attacking me as a racist saying that I'm beyond the pale and that I'm a racist and that I'm a terrible person, but they do. The Haitians are eating people. They're cannibals. Not all of them, but a lot of them are. They're eating people, and they're eating people's pets, and they're eating the cats, and they're eating the dogs. So how is this racist?
We don't do that here in America. We don't eat people. We don't practice cannibalism. It's disgusting. It's third-world. It's beyond third-world. I mean, it's like, it's like for, it's like for people and I don't know, living in the jungle, you know, it's like, I don't even know if people like living in the jungle do this. Right? It's animalistic behavior. It's like Stone Age behavior. Exactly. There's people that live in the most depraved third-world conditions, and they're still not eating people. It is so third-world.
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judges all via audience reaction so will keep doing dumb pun?
he is a smart strong ruthless man who does whatever he likes, terrorizes women?
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an 9 24
“Haitian immigrants aren’t just eating cats and dogs. They eat HUMANS,” Loomer baselessly claimed Thursday. “Remember their leader? Known as ‘Barbeque’? Only Hannibal Lecter himself would want to bring more of them to the United States!”
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guk
why is Donald Trump so obsessed with Hannibal Lecter?
The former president continues to bring up the fictional killer at rallies. Anthony Hopkins is ‘appalled’ while everyone else remains confused …
:{Thu 25 Jul 2024
If the rumours are true, and Donald Trump really is becoming increasingly displeased with his choice of running mate, JD Vance, then it can only be a matter of time before he replaces him. And when he does, there is only one figure that he can possibly choose. A figure with a clinical mind. A figure with a sharkish ruthlessness. The figure who haunts Trump’s every waking thought. The overwhelming object of his obsession. That’s right: Trump’s next VP pick has to be the late, great Hannibal Lecter.
The Silence of the Lambs at 30: a landmark thriller of horror and humanity
Read more](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/14/the-silence-of-the-lambs-30-landmark-thriller-horror-humanity)
Trump mentioned Hannibal Lecter again last night, during a rally in North Carolina. During a rambling tangent about immigrants, Trump said: “They’re coming from everywhere. They’re coming from all over the world, from prisons and jails, and mental institutions and insane asylums. You know, they go crazy when I say, ‘The late great Hannibal Lecter,’ OK? They say, ‘Why would he mention Hannibal Lecter? He must be cognitively in trouble.’ No no no, these are real stories. Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lamb [sic]. He’s a lovely man. He’d love to have you for dinner.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Trump said more or less the same thing during his speech at the Republican national convention last week. And several times before that, stretching all the way back to May. Indeed, Lecter has become as immovable a part of Trump’s campaign as the poem The Snake was back in 2016. Only that made sense because, as a poem, The Snake is a collection of words that possesses a basic legibility. Whereas the Hannibal thing literally cannot be described as that at all.
Trump’s unending Hannibal references are so overwhelmingly confusing that it has sent the internet running to the hills in search of something, anything, that might explain why the next potential president of the world’s biggest superpower keeps repeating the same baffling non-sequitur every time he gets near a microphone. People even approached Anthony Hopkins in an effort to get to the bottom of it. And without luck, because all Hopkins could manage in response was a brief (if understandable) “I’m shocked and appalled”.
So, then. What on earth is going on? Let’s try to get to the bottom of this by going through the prevalent theories.
Trump is conflating the terms ‘mental asylum’ with ‘asylum seeker’
According to TikTok user MrsMisanthrope2, Trump only evokes Hannibal Lecter in public whenever he has been discussing immigrants. Immigrants seek asylum. And where do we first meet Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs? That’s right, in an insane asylum. The theory goes that Donald Trump believes the word “asylum” only has one definition, and that everyone who seeks asylum is automatically by definition insane. This could also be reinforced by the fact that, in 2001’s Hannibal, Lecter lives in Florence and is therefore an immigrant. But this can’t be right, can it? Donald Trump cannot be that stupid, can he? Can he?
Trump thinks Hannibal Lecter is a real person
:{Donald Trump’s odd phrasing when he mentions Lecter has baffled some, not least because it’s never made explicitly clear whether Trump thinks that Lecter is alive or not. The repeated use of the line “the late, great Hannibal Lecter” seems to suggest he might be unable to discern fiction from reality.
To make matters worse, Hannibal Lecter isn’t actually dead. He remained alive through all the Silence of the Lambs prequels, and basically won in Hannibal, and even though the final episode of the Hannibal TV show ended with Lecter toppling off a cliff into the sea, his fate was left deliberately vague. But he can’t think Lecter is real, because once he mentioned that he was a character from a movie. So what is it?}:
It’s just a joke
Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy
Notice that Trump never mentions Lecter without saying something along the lines of “He’d love to have you for dinner”. Could this be the reason for all the references? Could it simply be that it means he gets an easy laugh from a crowd of simpletons with an old gag? What’s more, a gag that is so thumpingly unoriginal that Hannibal Lecter literally says it out loud during The Silence of the Lambs?}:
If that’s the case, this is highly upsetting and Trump should consider paraphrasing a different overused line from a film. Maybe he could spike his speeches by saying “May the Force be with you”, or “We’re gonna need a bigger boat” or “I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am”.}:
Trump is playing 4D chess with us
Maybe, though, this is all just a distraction. Maybe Trump is a political genius who knows that a newspaper of note like the Guardian will waste hundreds of words every time he mentions Hannibal Lecter, allowing him all the cover he needs to enact Project 2025 on an unwitting nation. Perhaps this is his equivalent of that time Boris Johnson said he painted wooden buses as a hobby, only more sophisticated because it has inspired debate rather than head-slapping disappointment. Perhaps invoking the name of a man from a film from 33 years ago is all part of his evil plan to destabilise all of democracy as we know it. But surely that can’t be it either.
:{:{Trump keeps unlocking Captain America-style supersoldiers to do his bidding every time he mentions Lecter}:
:{:{Which leaves just one explanation. “The late great Hannibal Lecter, he’s a lovely man, he’d love to have you for dinner,” is actually a trigger sequence for an army of insurrectionist sleeper agents who have been brainwashed by Russian scientists, and once they’ve heard him say it 35 times they’ll burn Washington to the ground. This is almost certainly the case, and may God have mercy on all our souls.}:
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wapo
Why Trump keeps talking about fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter
Trump is the “crypt keeper for the 1980s,” a Trump biographer said. Trump has mentioned Lecter while making baseless claims about immigrants.
/The Washington Post
and
Updated August 14, 2024 at 7:20 p.m. EDT|Published August 14, 2024
Hannibal Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer, a lover of fava beans and a nice chianti, fictional — and now, a regular feature in Donald Trump’s speeches.
As the Republican presidential nominee riffed on immigration and the border at an Aug. 3 rally in Atlanta, he declared: “They hate when I use Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The late, great Hannibal Lecter,” an apparent reference to the media.
During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last month, he asked: “Has anyone seen ‘The Silence of the Lambs’? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner. That’s insane asylums. They’re emptying out their insane asylums.”
In Wildwood, N.J., on May 11, he told the crowd: “The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’s a wonderful man. … Remember the last scene?” Trump went on to say: “We have people that are being released into our country that we don’t want in our country.”
1:02
The fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter has become a fixture in former president Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign speeches. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post)
Trump’s references to Lecter are at once consistent and nonsensical. He typically mentions the fictional serial killer in the context of immigration, claiming without evidence that migrants are coming in from insane asylums and mental institutions and often using dehumanizing language.
Around 1 percent of those arrested at the southern border have criminal convictions, federal data shows. There is little evidence that undocumented immigrants commit more crime than U.S. citizens do. Many migrants who cross the U.S. border seek political asylum here, but that term has nothing to do with mental illness. Trump has also spoken about Lecter before reading “The Snake,” a poem that he has used to convey an anti-immigrant message at his rallies and public events for years.
Yet the references to Lecter reveal something else about Trump: the era in which he rose to fame and his previous time as a celebrity. A Trump rally is a sort of time capsule, a frozen-in-amber moment from an earlier era — the 1980s — when Trump ruled the New York City clubs and tabloids and first graced the cover of Time magazine.
His self-curated rally playlists include hits like “Y.M.C.A.” (1978) and “Gloria” (1982). The fit of his suits and the length of his ties scream 1980s. He still has a penchant for gilded interior design. Trump Tower was completed in 1983.
Trump is the “crypt keeper for the 1980s,” which was “the high point of his life until he became president,” said Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer who has criticized the former president.
“Every time he opens the door, people spill out from the 1980s, whether it’s Roger Stone or Rudy Giuliani, fashion from the ’80s spills out, whether it’s his monochrome tie or suits that invariably are made in two or three different colors … his office decor is still in the 1980s,” he said. “None of his tastes have been updated in decades.”
Trump’s Hannibal Lecter obsession fits perfectly in this mold. Thomas Harris’s novel “The Silence of the Lambs,” which the film is based on, hit bookstore shelves around the same time as Trump’s 1987 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” (The New York Times had the two books side by side on its paperback bestseller list in mid-1989.) The movie, which starred Jodie Foster as FBI cadet Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as Lecter, came out in 1991 and won the Academy Award for best picture.
A decade later, Trump attended the 2001 New York premiere of “Hannibal,” the sequel to “The Silence of the Lambs.” He arrived at the premiere with future wife Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, according to a USA Today story. The story noted that the movie studio at the time was concerned about how women would react to the gore. Melania said she had “no problems” and didn’t close her eyes. Trump replied: “I did.”
...tracked by The Post between his campaign kickoff in November 2022 and Aug. 12, Trump has mentioned Lecter or the film “The Silence of the Lambs” in 20 of them. (Trump appeared to recognize the references to Lecter may be outdated, musing at a rally in Sioux City that “young people” hadn’t heard of him.)}:
The Lecter mentions are a way for Trump to continue “upping the ante” from his previous descriptions of migrants, said Gwenda Blair, another Trump biographer. It’s “not just criminals, rapists, which Trump has already used starting in 2015 … but let’s get cannibal in the mix.”
Trump “is somebody who understands images and branding, and Hannibal Lecter is a well-established brand of absolutely indescribable horror,” Blair added.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who is running for Senate, thinks there’s a simple explanation. “It was a great movie,” Banks said. “Widely recognized as one of the best movies of all time. And I think he enjoys that liberals get bent out of shape about it.”
Several people close to the Trump campaign said they did not know the backstory for Trump’s fixation on Lecter and had never asked. His speeches also seem to have perplexed Hopkins, the Welsh actor who won an Oscar for playing Lecter. In an interview with Deadline, Hopkins observed: “Hannibal, that’s a long time ago, that movie. God, that was over 30 years ago. I’m shocked and appalled what you’ve told me about Trump.”
In interviews at Trump’s rally in Atlanta, voters offered different interpretations.
“First time I heard it, I was like, ‘What?’ But after I heard it a couple of times, it was like, ‘Oh, I get the connection now,’” said Jim Scandle, 72. “He’s trying to make the point that a lot of these people that are coming illegally in this country are from mental institutions, just like Hannibal Lecter. And so you know, it has nothing to do with Hannibal Lecter except the fact that he was in a mental institution.”
Bert Sandler, 66, laughed when asked about “The Silence of the Lambs.” (Sandler hasn’t seen the movie in “probably” six years but exclaimed, “With fava beans!” as he reflected on Trump’s comments.)
He had a more philosophical interpretation.
“I think he’s just speaking about where the world is today,” Sandler said. “I think that’s where we are, the divisiveness. I think he’s just trying to portray a character that’s pretty divisive and needed a lot of help, and I think America needs a lot of help.”
Debbie Courtney offered a shorter take: “I just think evil.” She added: “I don’t think he’s talking about somebody eating somebody for dinner.”
The Trump campaign did not offer further clarification about the former president’s penchant for mentioning Lecter or volunteer his personal positions on fava beans and chianti. Instead, Steven Cheung replied in a statement: “President Trump is an inspiring and gifted storyteller and referencing pop culture is one of many reasons why he can successfully connect with the audience and voters. Whereas, [Vice President Kamala Harris] is as relatable as a worn-out couch.”
*Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.
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[### Trump's Hannibal Lecter Love Affair: A Complete Timeline
Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com › politics › politics-features](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/donald-trump-hannibal-lecter-timeline-1235070008/)
Jul 30, 2024 — An off-script moment from early in the election cycle led to a bizarre MAGA ritual celebrating a fictional cannibal.
[### Why Is Donald Trump So Fixated on Hannibal Lecter?
Variety
https://variety.com › news › donald-trump-hannibal-lecte...](https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/donald-trump-hannibal-lecter-fascination-1236077926/)
Jul 18, 2024 — The fictional character — famous from 'Silence of the Lambs' — was referenced again by the former president during his Republican National Convention speech.
[### Why Trump keeps talking about fictional serial killer ...
The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com › politics › 2024/08/14](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/14/why-trump-keeps-talking-about-fictional-serial-killer-hannibal-lecter/)
Aug 14, 2024 — Trump is the “crypt keeper for the 1980′s,” a Trump biographer said. Trump has mentioned Lecter while making baseless claims about ...
[### Go to one of Donald Trump’s rallies. He talks about Hannibal ...
Facebook · Kamala Harris
21.1K+ reactions · 4 days ago](https://www.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/videos/go-to-one-of-donald-trumps-rallies-he-talks-about-hannibal-lecter-windmills-caus/384007274572757/)
[
0:39](https://www.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/videos/go-to-one-of-donald-trumps-rallies-he-talks-about-hannibal-lecter-windmills-caus/384007274572757/)
He talks about Hannibal Lecter, windmills causing cancer—and you will even notice people leaving early out of boredom. The one thing you will ...
[### Kamala Harris
X
https://x.com › KamalaHarris › status](https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/1833685883423215617)
5 days ago — Go to one of Donald Trump's rallies. He talks about Hannibal Lecter, windmills causing cancer—and you will even notice people leaving early ...
Videos
[
0:39](https://m.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/videos/go-to-one-of-donald-trumps-rallies-he-talks-about-hannibal-lecter-windmills-caus/384007274572757/)[Go to one of Donald Trump’s rallies. He talks about Hannibal ... Facebook · Kamala Harris
39 seconds
4 days ago](https://m.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/videos/go-to-one-of-donald-trumps-rallies-he-talks-about-hannibal-lecter-windmills-caus/384007274572757/)
[
1:38](https://www.google.com/search?q=hannibal+lecter+trump&sca_esv=af740e8e7c6d4bda&sca_upv=1&source=hp&ei=OC3nZtyECc_dkPIPvumegAw&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZuc7SKdOtXLv3RlmJDa6Ecn4H8grN5sZ&oq=hannibal+lector&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6Ig9oYW5uaWJhbCBsZWN0b3IqAggBMg0QLhiABBixAxiDARgKMgoQABiABBixAxgKMgoQLhiABBixAxgKMgoQABiABBixAxgKMgoQABiABBixAxgKMgoQLhiABBixAxgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgoQLhiABBixAxgKMgcQABiABBgKSLJiUABY0BtwAHgAkAEAmAFZoAGfB6oBAjE1uAEByAEA-AEBmAIPoALSB8ICERAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAgUQLhiABMICCBAAGIAEGLEDwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYxwHCAggQLhiABBixA8ICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIREC4YgAQYsQMYxwEYjgUYrwHCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICCxAuGIAEGNEDGMcBwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAgUQABiABMICDhAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGNQCmAMAkgcCMTWgB6_yAQ&sclient=gws-wiz#)[Harris says people 'start leaving' Trump's rallies out of 'boredom' YouTube · NBC News
1 minute, 38 seconds
4 days ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5_OqQ2dP7Q)
[
1:02](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-keeps-talking-about-the-late-great-hannibal-lecter/2024/08/14/638eb545-60df-4b9c-98eb-352b2970459c_video.html)[Trump keeps talking about the 'late, great' Hannibal Lecter Washington Post
1 minute, 2 seconds
1 month ago](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-keeps-talking-about-the-late-great-hannibal-lecter/2024/08/14/638eb545-60df-4b9c-98eb-352b2970459c_video.html)
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[### Why is Donald Trump so obsessed with Hannibal Lecter?
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com › culture › article › jul](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jul/25/donald-trump-hannibal-lecter)
Jul 25, 2024 — The former president continues to bring up the fictional killer at rallies. Anthony Hopkins is 'appalled' while everyone else remains confused.
[### Trump's Hannibal Lecter obsession explained
MSNBC News
https://www.msnbc.com › the-reidout › watch › trump-...](https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/trump-s-hannibal-lecter-obsession-explained-217201221588)
[
6:57](https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/trump-s-hannibal-lecter-obsession-explained-217201221588)
'Stop creating hate!': Haitian immigrant slams Trump and Vance for 'pet eating' lies. 08:55. 'Insanity': Joy debunks Trump's 'deranged,' ...
MSNBC News · MSNBC · 1 month ago
[### Donald Trump's Hannibal Lecter remarks leave Anthony ...
The Hill
https://thehill.com › blogs › in-the-know › 4778013-tru...](https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/4778013-trump-hannibal-lecter-anthony-hopkins/)
Jul 17, 2024 — Actor Anthony Hopkins says he is “shocked and appalled” by former President Trump's comments about fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter, ...
[### President Donald Trump has made references to Hannibal ... Facebook
https://www.facebook.com › ... › MSNBC › Videos](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1176895220236689/)
President Donald Trump has made references to Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs, over 11 times just this year....
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Right-wing media are gleefully promoting a false, racist rumor that Haitian migrants are eating pets
Right-wing figures have called Haitian people “locusts,” zombies,” and “weird Third World aliens”
Written by Chloe Simon & Reed McMaster
Research contributions from Gideon Taaffe
Published 09/10/24 mma
On September 9, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance claimed that Haitian migrants had “abducted and eaten” pets in Springfield, Ohio, seemingly referencing debunked social media rumors.
Though local officials explained that there was no truth to the claim, right-wing media immediately jumped on the bandwagon, amplifying Vance’s allegations and pushing racist narratives about Haitian immigrants.
Some right-wing figures accused Haitian migrants of consuming “cats and ducks” and comparing them to “zombies” and “locusts.”
- ## JD Vance falsely alleged Haitian migrants are kidnapping and eating people’s pets, continuing long-standing right-wing media attacks on Haitians
- JD Vance wrote on X that he had previously raised concerns about “Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio” and “reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” While Vance did admit in a subsequent post that “it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he doubled down by telling by telling his “fellow patriots” not to “let the crybabies in the media dissuade you” and encouraged them to continue making “cat memes.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24, 9/10/24, 9/10/24]
- The claim Haitian migrants are eating cats seemingly originated from a commentator at a local meeting, Facebook rumors, and a video of a woman accused of eating an animal. The video used as evidence took place in Canton, Ohio, not Springfield, Ohio, and The Guardian reported that the woman did not appear to be a Haitian immigrant. The Guardian, [9/9/24]
- Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck says there is no truth to the story.In a statement to ABC News, Heck said that “in response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” (Vance had previously cited Heck in a Senate Banking committee meeting about issues Springfield has had with housing for Haitian migrants.) ABC News, [9/9/24]
- The debunked attack on Haitian people is the latest in years’ worth of racist right-wing media tirades against the country. In the aftermath of the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake, right-wing media said that the “Haitian pact with the devil is historical fact” and that the country was “so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.” Then in 2018, when Trump had labeled Haiti a “shithole country,” Infowars’ Alex Jones backed him up, saying it is a “literal craphole” and a “hellhole.” Media Matters, [1/14/10, 1/20/10, 1/21/10, 1/12/18; NBC News, 1/11/18]
- ## Right-wing and far-right media figures and Trump allies have used this claim to launch hateful attacks at migrants, criticize the Biden/Harris administration’s immigration record, and encourage people to vote for Trump
- The Federalist posted an article titled “If You Want Haitians Eating Cats And Decapitating Ducks In Your Town, Vote For Harris.”The piece also alleges that even though many have denied this claim, “officials have no way of knowing whether this is really happening” and that the debunks serve to “shame anyone who dares to notice the problems that arise when you inundate a community with foreigners from the Third World.” The Federalist, [9/10/24]
- Fox anchor Trace Gallagher claimed migrants are “taking over” Springfield Ohio and eating people’s pets. He stated, “They’ve got 20,000 illegal immigrants that have flooded into this place. They are taking over the city. They are taking people's pets and killing them and eating them.” Media Matters, [9/9/24]
- Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz claimed that “President Trump made it a felony to abuse animals” and “Kamala Harris allows illegal aliens to eat pets.” Bruesewitz also added, “Vote for Trump.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Trump ally Laura Loomer released “limited edition” “pet collars for your furever friends so that Kamala’s @KamalaHarris’s invaders know our pets are NOT YOUR LUNCH.”The collars say “Not Your Lunch #MAGA” and cost $23.28. Twitter/X, [9/9/24; Untamed USA, accessed 9/10/24]
- The Gateway Pundit published an article titled “Epic Memes Emerge Online Following Reports of Cat and Bird-Eating Haitian Immigrants in Ohio, Causing Liberals to Lose Their Minds.” The article argued that the memes showed “not even our most beloved animals are safe from Harris’s open border,” noting that some of them depicted Trump as “a protector of the animals while telling Americans to vote for him in November.” The Gateway Pundit, [9/9/24]
- Conservative outlet Townhall suggested voting for Trump to stop cats and ducks from being “consumed by illegal immigrants.” The site posted, “Right now—somewhere in Ohio—innocent cats and ducks are being consumed by illegal immigrants. Don't just sit idly by while your pets are victimized. Do something.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter said that he wants to “close our borders to weird Third World aliens who want to eat our cats and dogs and our geese and ducks.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Libs of TikTok posted a poll asking people “which do you prefer,” “mean tweets” or “Haitians grilling cats.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- In a discussion about the Haitian migrant story, Outkick host Clay Travis compared migrants coming into the U.S. to “locusts” who will “become a plague upon your land.”Travis further claimed that migrants in the U.S are “not going to adopt any of your values” and are going to “bring whatever awful things had destroyed the country that we were in to your country.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]
- Travis also claimed “Kamala’s illegal immigrants” are “eating up cats,” which he said puts “cat ladies for Kamala … in a tough spot.” He stated, “The wild thing to me is, Buck, you had all the cat ladies for Kamala that were running around because JD Vance made a reference years ago to childless cat ladies, and you had people showed up dressing up like cats. These cat women are in a tough spot now that Kamala's illegal immigrants are eating up cats.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]
- Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk amplified the rumor about Haitian immigrants, claiming that “allegedly, Haitians are going around and taking people's pets and eating them.”Media Matters, [9/9/24]
- Infowars host Alex Jones argued that Haitians are being “brought in” to the country and committing multiple violent crimes as well as eating pets. He stated, “You've got the Haitians, who have had a collapsed country for many decades, the Clintons feeding off of them, all of it. Being brought in, in medium-sized towns, cities, you know, 20-, 30,000 a pop like Springfield, Ohio. Which is they're eating the dogs, the cats, raping, burning, murdering, just like zombies running around.” InfoWars, *The Alex Jones Show*, [9/9/24]
- Daily Wire Matt Walsh argued that the cat eating is “happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” He continued, “One wonders what the childless cat ladies will say when their cats end up in a Haitian's crock pot or whatever they use to cook cats — I don't know. After all, this isn't just happening in Springfield, Ohio. It's happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” The Daily Wire, *The Matt Walsh Show*, [9/9/24]
- TPUSA contributor Jack Posobiec shared a screenshot of a Facebook post claiming the poster’s neighbor’s daughter lost her cat to Haitian migrants who were “carving it up to eat.” Posobiec added, “20,000 Haitians have been imported to Springfield, Ohio since Biden and Kamala took office.” Twitter/X, [9/8/24]
- Right-wing figure Ian Miles Cheong posted a video of a cat and a duck playing together with the caption: “Don't show this to the new 'residents' of Springfield, Ohio.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi alleged that we’ve “now reached the point where the poor asylum seeking migrants are eating house cats and wild birds.” Crispi also claimed that “Democrats are seeking to make these individuals citizens/voters.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- In response to someone asking him if he’s ever “met or helped any Haitians,” Gab CEO Andrew Torba posted that he’s “more concerned with helping and serving my own people in Ohio who the Haitians are terrorizing with their savagery.” Twitter/X, [9/10/24]
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an 9 24
“Haitian immigrants aren’t just eating cats and dogs. They eat HUMANS,” Loomer baselessly claimed Thursday. “Remember their leader? Known as ‘Barbeque’? Only Hannibal Lecter himself would want to bring more of them to the United States!”
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Right-wing media are gleefully promoting a false, racist rumor that Haitian migrants are eating pets
Right-wing figures have called Haitian people “locusts,” zombies,” and “weird Third World aliens”
Written by Chloe Simon & Reed McMaster
Research contributions from Gideon Taaffe
Published 09/10/24 mma
On September 9, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance claimed that Haitian migrants had “abducted and eaten” pets in Springfield, Ohio, seemingly referencing debunked social media rumors.
Though local officials explained that there was no truth to the claim, right-wing media immediately jumped on the bandwagon, amplifying Vance’s allegations and pushing racist narratives about Haitian immigrants.
Some right-wing figures accused Haitian migrants of consuming “cats and ducks” and comparing them to “zombies” and “locusts.”
Select a Section
- ## JD Vance falsely alleged Haitian migrants are kidnapping and eating people’s pets, continuing long-standing right-wing media attacks on Haitians
- JD Vance wrote on X that he had previously raised concerns about “Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio” and “reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” While Vance did admit in a subsequent post that “it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he doubled down by telling by telling his “fellow patriots” not to “let the crybabies in the media dissuade you” and encouraged them to continue making “cat memes.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24, 9/10/24, 9/10/24]
- The claim Haitian migrants are eating cats seemingly originated from a commentator at a local meeting, Facebook rumors, and a video of a woman accused of eating an animal. The video used as evidence took place in Canton, Ohio, not Springfield, Ohio, and The Guardian reported that the woman did not appear to be a Haitian immigrant. The Guardian, [9/9/24]
- Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck says there is no truth to the story.In a statement to ABC News, Heck said that “in response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” (Vance had previously cited Heck in a Senate Banking committee meeting about issues Springfield has had with housing for Haitian migrants.) ABC News, [9/9/24]
- The debunked attack on Haitian people is the latest in years’ worth of racist right-wing media tirades against the country. In the aftermath of the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake, right-wing media said that the “Haitian pact with the devil is historical fact” and that the country was “so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.” Then in 2018, when Trump had labeled Haiti a “shithole country,” Infowars’ Alex Jones backed him up, saying it is a “literal craphole” and a “hellhole.” Media Matters, [1/14/10, 1/20/10, 1/21/10, 1/12/18; NBC News, 1/11/18]
- ## Right-wing and far-right media figures and Trump allies have used this claim to launch hateful attacks at migrants, criticize the Biden/Harris administration’s immigration record, and encourage people to vote for Trump
- The Federalist posted an article titled “If You Want Haitians Eating Cats And Decapitating Ducks In Your Town, Vote For Harris.”The piece also alleges that even though many have denied this claim, “officials have no way of knowing whether this is really happening” and that the debunks serve to “shame anyone who dares to notice the problems that arise when you inundate a community with foreigners from the Third World.” The Federalist, [9/10/24]
- Fox anchor Trace Gallagher claimed migrants are “taking over” Springfield Ohio and eating people’s pets. He stated, “They’ve got 20,000 illegal immigrants that have flooded into this place. They are taking over the city. They are taking people's pets and killing them and eating them.” Media Matters, [9/9/24]
- Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz claimed that “President Trump made it a felony to abuse animals” and “Kamala Harris allows illegal aliens to eat pets.” Bruesewitz also added, “Vote for Trump.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Trump ally Laura Loomer released “limited edition” “pet collars for your furever friends so that Kamala’s @KamalaHarris’s invaders know our pets are NOT YOUR LUNCH.”The collars say “Not Your Lunch #MAGA” and cost $23.28. Twitter/X, [9/9/24; Untamed USA, accessed 9/10/24]
- The Gateway Pundit published an article titled “Epic Memes Emerge Online Following Reports of Cat and Bird-Eating Haitian Immigrants in Ohio, Causing Liberals to Lose Their Minds.” The article argued that the memes showed “not even our most beloved animals are safe from Harris’s open border,” noting that some of them depicted Trump as “a protector of the animals while telling Americans to vote for him in November.” The Gateway Pundit, [9/9/24]
- Conservative outlet Townhall suggested voting for Trump to stop cats and ducks from being “consumed by illegal immigrants.” The site posted, “Right now—somewhere in Ohio—innocent cats and ducks are being consumed by illegal immigrants. Don't just sit idly by while your pets are victimized. Do something.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter said that he wants to “close our borders to weird Third World aliens who want to eat our cats and dogs and our geese and ducks.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Libs of TikTok posted a poll asking people “which do you prefer,” “mean tweets” or “Haitians grilling cats.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- In a discussion about the Haitian migrant story, Outkick host Clay Travis compared migrants coming into the U.S. to “locusts” who will “become a plague upon your land.”Travis further claimed that migrants in the U.S are “not going to adopt any of your values” and are going to “bring whatever awful things had destroyed the country that we were in to your country.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]
- Travis also claimed “Kamala’s illegal immigrants” are “eating up cats,” which he said puts “cat ladies for Kamala … in a tough spot.” He stated, “The wild thing to me is, Buck, you had all the cat ladies for Kamala that were running around because JD Vance made a reference years ago to childless cat ladies, and you had people showed up dressing up like cats. These cat women are in a tough spot now that Kamala's illegal immigrants are eating up cats.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]
- Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk amplified the rumor about Haitian immigrants, claiming that “allegedly, Haitians are going around and taking people's pets and eating them.”Media Matters, [9/9/24]
- Infowars host Alex Jones argued that Haitians are being “brought in” to the country and committing multiple violent crimes as well as eating pets. He stated, “You've got the Haitians, who have had a collapsed country for many decades, the Clintons feeding off of them, all of it. Being brought in, in medium-sized towns, cities, you know, 20-, 30,000 a pop like Springfield, Ohio. Which is they're eating the dogs, the cats, raping, burning, murdering, just like zombies running around.” InfoWars, *The Alex Jones Show*, [9/9/24]
- Daily Wire Matt Walsh argued that the cat eating is “happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” He continued, “One wonders what the childless cat ladies will say when their cats end up in a Haitian's crock pot or whatever they use to cook cats — I don't know. After all, this isn't just happening in Springfield, Ohio. It's happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” The Daily Wire, *The Matt Walsh Show*, [9/9/24]
- TPUSA contributor Jack Posobiec shared a screenshot of a Facebook post claiming the poster’s neighbor’s daughter lost her cat to Haitian migrants who were “carving it up to eat.” Posobiec added, “20,000 Haitians have been imported to Springfield, Ohio since Biden and Kamala took office.” Twitter/X, [9/8/24]
- Right-wing figure Ian Miles Cheong posted a video of a cat and a duck playing together with the caption: “Don't show this to the new 'residents' of Springfield, Ohio.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi alleged that we’ve “now reached the point where the poor asylum seeking migrants are eating house cats and wild birds.” Crispi also claimed that “Democrats are seeking to make these individuals citizens/voters.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
- In response to someone asking him if he’s ever “met or helped any Haitians,” Gab CEO Andrew Torba posted that he’s “more concerned with helping and serving my own people in Ohio who the Haitians are terrorizing with their savagery.” Twitter/X, [9/10/24]
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