NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Members of the South Florida Haitian community rallied together Sunday in North Miami against false accusations that Haitian migrants were abducting and eating cats and dogs.
“Enough is enough. We’re gonna take it to the ballot box,” North Miami Vice Mayor Mary Estimé-Irvin said.
Hundreds of Haitian Americans gathered in North Miami for the event hosted by the Miami-Dade Democratic Haitian Caucus to set the record straight after former President Donald Trump made a false claim during this month’s presidential debate.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said.
“I thought it was absolutely reflective of the idiot that he is,” Haitian American Leoni Hermantin said. “What angered me was the fact that children in schools are being harassed.”
Earlier this month, Trump’s vice presidential pick, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, was the first to make the statement that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were abducting and eating pets.
While sitting down with CNN, Vance said he had to “create stories.”
“It comes from first-hand accounts from my constituents. I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,” he said.
“It’s disgusting,” Estimé-Irvin said. “I was outraged by that statement and I couldn’t believe it keeps perpetrating over and over and over again.”
Those baseless claims are now center focus for Haitian American voters ahead of the election.
“That’s why we’ll vote him out,” one rally attendee said. “He will be no president in the United States anymore.”