Buttigieg: Trump and Vance ‘demonizing immigrants’ to distract from their record

Pete Buttigieg on Thursday slammed former President Donald Trump’s recent false claims that migrants are eating pets, saying it’s a strategy to distract from the Republican presidential nominee’s record.

Pete Buttigieg on Thursday slammed former President Donald Trump’s recent false claims that migrants are eating pets, saying it’s a strategy to distract from the Republican presidential nominee’s record. “There’s even more to it than demonizing immigrants – although that’s obviously part of what he’s doing,” said Buttigieg, appearing on CNN’s “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins. “This is a strategy to get us talking about the latest crazy thing that he did, whatever urban legend he amplifies – right now it’s about people eating cats or geese or whatever – because he cannot afford for us to be talking about his record.” In recent days, Trump and his allies, including running mate JD Vance, have promoted false claims that Haitian migrants in Ohio are killing and eating family pets. Trump repeated the conspiracy theory during the ABC presidential debate Tuesday night, although the City of Springfield and the local police have said they’ve seen no evidence for the claim. Buttigieg, who spoke in his personal capacity but serves as transportation secretary in the Biden administration, said that while he thinks it is a distraction technique, “it’s one that isn’t harmless.” “It’s affecting this community, and it contributes to this bigger picture of demonizing immigrants. But again this is strategic,” he said. Buttigieg praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance but stressed that groundwork and organizing is more important to win the race.