Those wondering where they might have seen Donald Trump’s baseless migrant claims before should turn their attention to Britain’s revered red-top press, which has been peddling the same claims for decades.
The former US president amplified false rumours that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were abducting and eating pets during this week’s debate in Philadelphia.
There is no evidence that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio community are doing that, officials say.
But during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr Trump specifically mentioned Springfield, Ohio, saying that immigrants were taking over the city.
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said.
It’s not the first time such baseless claims about asylum seekers have been spread to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment.
In 2007, The Sun newspaper ran a front-page story alleging that migrants were stealing and eating swans from the Queen’s land.
Independent media watchdog the Presswise Trust accused the red top of urban myth-making by printing the story, which ran under the headline “Swan Bake” on 4th July.
The group was advised by Presswise and wrote to the Press Complaints Commission alleging a breach of clause one of the Editors’ Code of Practice, which governs accuracy.
The story said: “Callous asylumseekers are barbecuing the queen’s swans. East European poachers lure the protected Royal birds into baited traps, an official Metropolitan Police report says.”
Presswise asked the police about the alleged incidents and found that no one had been charged with any such offence in relation to swans.
Related: Pets are being marked safe in Ohio following Trump remarks