GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance can’t seem to stop stepping into the litter where cats are concerned after raising the ire of women and their supporters by disparaging ‘childless cat ladies.’
He tweeted a claim that Haitians are eating family cats in Ohio.
Specifically, JD Vance Tweeted that Haitians are causing chaos in Springfield, Ohio, adding "reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country."
He didn't specify which reports he'd heard, but the city's spokeswoman told CBS News it just isn't true.
But his Tweet has already gotten 10 million views.
"In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," said Karen Graves, strategic engagement manager for Springfield.
Public reaction was also swift, with nearly 12,000 people weighing in with comments like this one from X user Art Candee. "This has been debunked, but of course you're spreading fake news. You're desperate and sad."
There was a situation three hours away from Springfield last month where a 27-year-old mentally disturbed woman was arrested for allegedly killing a cat and eating the animal in front of neighbors. The woman is not a Haitian immigrant.
According to court records, Allexis Telia Ferrell, of Canton, is charged with injuring animals, prohibitions concerning companion animals and disorderly conduct. She's being held on bond.
Vance backed away from his claim after it went viral, although he did not apologize for it. "In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false," he wrote on X.
Notably, Vance has also doubled down on his criticism of 'childless cat ladies' -- a group that includes beloved Americans like Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Betty White.
Initially, he said the U.S. was being run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."
After an outcry and countless cat memes and suburban yard signs popping up that say "cats for Kamala," Vance tried to clarify his position on both cats and women.
"Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment," he said in an interview on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on SiriusXM. "I've got nothing against cats. I've got nothing against dogs. … People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said. The substance of what I said, Megyn — I'm sorry, it's true."
"These people want to conflate the personal situation here with the fact that I'm making an argument that our entire society has become skeptical and even hateful towards the idea of having kids," he said on the podcast.