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Key Takeaways
One of the biggest shocks from the presidential debate Tuesday night might have been former President Donald Trump promoting an unsubstantiated claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating people’s pets. But the false statement likely wasn’t so surprising to people who have been closely following Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants for years.
“Look at what's happening to the towns all over the United States,” Trump said at the debate, after saying that Democrats had allowed “millions and millions of people” to come into the country. “ A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame.”
The former president was promptly fact-checked by debate moderator David Muir, who said ABC News reached out to the Springfield city manager, who told them there has been “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the...
On January 15, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released Fiscal Year 2024 statistics for the False Claims Act. During FY 2024, settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2....