JD Vance’s outrageous claim that illegal immigrants are eating people’s pets has sparked outrage on social media.
The US senator from Ohio has been spreading vicious rumours that immigrants from Haiti have been abducting pets in Springfield on the back of a baseless rumour.
Taking to X, which is increasingly becoming the home of fake news, he posted: “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance wrote on X on Monday.
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
The post since has been viewed millions of times, and has not been community noted on the platform, despite the claim being widely debunked.
As one X user wrote to Vance on Monday: “This has been debunked but of course you’re spreading fake news. You’re desperate and sad.”
“This is a lie. you are a liar, and a bad one at that,” added another.
The reaction elsewhere has also been similarly fierce:
Related: ‘We didn’t find anything like that in the World’: Transparency chief discusses Covid VIP lane