White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed Donald Trump for accusing migrants of eating pets, saying lives were in danger because of his false claims.
The former president, during his debate with Kamala Harris, spread the false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets. Springfield City has issued a statement saying there have been no credible reports of pets being harmed by the Haitian community.
Jean-Pierre said Trumps comments were hate speech.
What is happening here is an attempt to tear apart communities and disrespect, she said. And it is spreading filth that makes the lives of the communities that are being smeared here. It puts their lives in danger and it is just hate speech. Thats what it is.
She added: Maybe we should not have leaders who fall for fake internet conspiracy theories. We should think about that.
Karine Jean-Pierre slammed comments from Donald Trump about pets being eaten
Trump, during the debate, called out Springfield, Ohio, by name and said: Theyre eating the dogs. Theyre eating the cats. Theyre eating the pets of the people that live there.
The debate moderators pointed out that city officials have said the claims are not true.
Last week, officials in Springfield City had to shut down city hall because of bomb threats. The threat repeated the misinformation as it mocked the Haitian people and said the bombs, which was in several city buildings, would detonate in hours.
Eventually the all-clear was given.
Trump, meanwhile, has doubled down. He posted a flurry of posts on his Truth Social account Thursday afternoon containing several memes of AI-generated images of cats holding signs in support of his campaign.
Dont let them eat us, vote for Trump, one AI image showed with cats holding the red and blue sign.
Another showed a sad cat with a sign reading Kamala hates me.
Trump has doubled down, posting cat memes to Truth Social account
Donald Trump, during Tuesdays presidential debate, spread the false rumor about pets being eaten by migrants
Eating pets wasnt the only controversial topic Jean-Pierre tackled in her press briefing on Thursday.
She was asked about comments from Laura Loomer, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who is close to Trump and traveled with him to the debate on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre slammed Loomer for spreading racist poison in her comments about Vice President Harris.
Loomer, a former congressional candidate and fervent Trump supporter, recently said on social media that if Harris wins the election, the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.
Jean-Pierre was outraged.
It is un-American to say these types of things exactly the kind of hateful and divisive rhetoric, rhetoric that we should denounce, Jean-Pierre said.
No leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison, she added.
But even some Republicans expressed outrage at Loomers comments.
Laura Loomer, a right-wing conspiracy theorist, traveled with Trump to the debate
Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed sharp disapproval ofher remarks.
Greene and Loomer have since been in an intense back-and-forth on X.
This is appalling and extremely racist, Greene wrote of Loomers remark. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA. This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.
Loomer, in returned, called Greene a raging antisemite and defending her initial post as a funny joke about Kamala Harris using her Indian mom as a way to dodge questions.
Loomer struck back, attacking Jean-Pierres sexuality and bringing up the false rumor about Haitians eating pets.
Karine Jean Pierre doesnt like me because shes a lesbian, Haitian immigrant and she doesnt like the fact that I have been so vocal about the cat eating Haitians, she wrote on X.
Everything I said is true. Kamala spends more time making cooking videos than she does speaking to the media. Curry has a very distinct smell. Its delicious. But, the scent can be overbearing at times, she said.
She added: PS: the migrants are eating the dogs and cats.