By Alexandra Ulmer and Costas Pitas
(Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday stood by debunked claims that immigrants in Ohio were eating pets, telling Latino voters during a town hall he was “just saying what was reported.”
Trump in recent weeks has amplified a false claim that has gone viral that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents’ pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.
There have been no credible reports of Haitians eating pets, and officials in Ohio – including Republicans – have repeatedly said the story is untrue.
At a town hall hosted by Spanish-language TV Univision, an undecided Mexican-born Latino Republican voter from Arizona, a battleground state, asked Trump in Spanish whether he truly believed that immigrants were eating pets.
“I was just saying what was reported… And eating other things too that they’re not supposed to be. All I do is report,” Trump replied during the event held in Miami. “I was there, I’m going to be there and we’re going to take a look.”
Trump added that “newspapers” had also reported on the claim, without naming any or providing any details.
Trump, who has not yet traveled to Springfield, has previously said he would conduct mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from the Ohio city, even though the majority of them are in the U.S. legally.
The city has faced bomb threats since Trump began repeating the false accusations about Haitians.
In the final weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Trump is increasingly resorting to darker and more violent language about illegal immigration, an issue that opinion polls show resonates with many voters, especially Republicans.
He is competing against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for key votes from the growing Latino population. Latino voters have typically backed Democrats, but the Trump campaign is hoping to win over more of them, especially men, on the back of economic discontent.
Harris led Trump by eight percentage points – 47% to 39% – among Hispanic voters in Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted between Sept. 11 and Oct. 7. Harris held her own Latino town hall last week in Nevada, a battleground state with a significant Hispanic population.
TRUMP SIDESTEPS QUESTIONS
At the town hall, Trump sidestepped other questions, including on immigration.
One town hall participant, a Mexican-born California farm worker who spoke of picking strawberries and broccoli for years, asked who would do hard farm labor if Trump goes through with his plans to deport millions of people who are in the United States illegally, and how that would impact food prices.
Trump did not answer directly and instead claimed African Americans and Hispanic Americans were losing their jobs because of illegal immigration. He also repeated baseless claims that Latin American countries were emptying out mental institutions and jails to send people to the United States.
Trump has previously used dehumanizing terminology to describe immigrants in the U.S. illegally, calling them “animals” when talking about alleged criminal acts, and saying they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” a phrase that has drawn criticism as xenophobic and echoing Nazi rhetoric.
Another town hall participant, a Florida-based Republican, said he wanted to give Trump a chance to “win back his vote” given his concerns over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and former Trump administration officials turning against the former president.
Thousands of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol in Washington D.C. that day in a bid to stop formal certification of his election defeat, causing millions of dollars in damage. Four people died on the day of the attack, and one Capitol Police officer who fought against the rioters died the next day.
Trump gave a lengthy response in which he described Jan. 6 as a “day of love” and said former administration officials who had turned against him were angry about having been fired.
“I hope someday maybe we’ll get your vote,” Trump said as he wrapped up. “Sounds like maybe I won’t, but that’s okay too.”
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer and Costas Pitas; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Deepa Babington and Jamie Freed)
