Trump Talks Immigrants Eating Pets Claim, Jan. 6 at Univision Town Hall

Former President Donald Trump addressed an audience of undecided Latino voters on Wednesday at a town hall in Miami, where he responded to questions about reproductive rights, climate change, immigration, the cost of living and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

At the town hall, hosted by Univision, Trump defended the baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating their neighbors’ pets. He notably repeated the debunked rumor during the presidential debate in September.

“I was just saying what was reported,” Trump explained. “That’s been reported, and eating other things, too, that they’re not supposed to be.” He added that “newspapers” reported on this claim, but did not name any sources.

Ramiro Gonzalez, a self-proclaimed Republican who wanted to give Trump the “opportunity to try to win back my vote,” said he was alarmed by how the former president “waited so long to take action” during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Hundreds of thousands of people come to Washington,” Trump said in a lengthy response. “They didn’t come because of me. They came because of the election. They thought the election was a rigged election. That’s why they came.”

The former president also referred to a remark he made on Jan. 6, 2021, when he told the crowd, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

“I said ‘peacefully and patriotically.’ Nothing done wrong at all,” Trump said at the town hall Wednesday. He added, “That was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions.”

At the end of the town hall, Trump was asked to name three virtues Vice President Kamala Harris possesses.

“That’s the toughest question. The others are easy,” Trump replied. “I’m not a fan. I think she’s harmed our country horribly, horribly. At the border, with inflation, with so many other things.”

He then answered the voter’s question, saying Harris “seems to have an ability to survive,” “she seems to have some pretty longtime friendships” and “she seems to have a nice way about her.”

Trump added: “I mean, I like the way some of her statements, some of her – the way she behaves, in a certain way. But in another way, I think it’s very bad for our country.”