A series of Simpsons memes have exploded on social media in response to Tuesday’s presidential debate, specifically after Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that it mentioned Springfield.
Citing unsubstantiated rumors on television and social media, Trump alleged that Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping dogs and cats and then eating them.
The outlandish comment came just 30 minutes into the debate, sparking not only concern about the widespread problem of misinformation but also jokes about the longest-running animated series in history: The Simpsons.
While it is also a city in Ohio, the show’s fictional location also has the same name.
During the presidential debate, former President Donald Trump made a wild claim: that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping cats and dogs and then eating them.
Following Trump’s outrageous accusation, Simpsons fans took to social media and said the show might have predicted Trump’s “eating dogs” comment through one of its episodes.
In his first presidential debate with Kamala Harris, Trump said: “They’re eating the dogs in Springfield. They’re eating the people coming in. They’re eating the cats.
“They are eating the pets of the people who live there. And this is what is happening in our country and it is a disgrace.”
The baseless claim was immediately debunked by ABC News moderator David Muir, who fact-checked the former president before correcting him, saying, “ABC News reached out to the city manager. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or mistreated by individuals within the immigrant community.”
But the ordeal sparked hilarious comparisons to The Simpsons on the Internet.
Political scientist Ian Bremmer used X during the debate to quote Trump’s claim, saying: “It could be an episode of The Simpsons.”
Trump continued his statement, interrupting Muir: “People on TV say, ‘They took my dog and used him for food,’ so maybe he said that and maybe it’s a good thing for a city manager to say.”
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue reiterated the rumor’s inaccuracy and said the city had no documented cases of immigrants eating pets.
The Simpsons have a reputation for being able to predict major news events.
Fans of the show took to social media to repost an old episode that “predicted” Trump’s false claim.
Political scientist Ian Bremmer referred to X during the debate after Trump’s “eating dogs” comment, saying it “could be an episode of The Simpsons.”
One user on X said: ‘Donald Trump thinks he lives in The Simpsons…’
In the episode, a friend of Homer Simpson gave him a beer to try. He seemed to like it, saying it was “cold, refreshing, and I don’t know exactly what.”
In the next scene, viewers see how beer is created in a factory, and in the liquid swim none other than dogs. After tasting it, the character says, “It needs more dog.”
The jokes didn’t end there. Since Trump referenced a town called Springfield, it didn’t take long for Simpsons fans to reference the family’s fictional hometown and the family’s fictional dog, Santa’s Little Helper.
In one post on X, one user wrote: ‘THEY ARE EATING DOGS IN SPRINGFIELD,’ which was accompanied by an image of the cartoon pup, peering at the screen.
In another post, one user wrote: “Sorry Santa’s little helper but Springfield is different these days. You need to stay home,” alongside a photo of an annoyed Bart Simpson talking to his dog.
Santa’s Little Helper, the family dog on the fictional show, was one of the main subjects of jokes on social media.
Trump’s wild claim was in reference to a rumor spread by his running mate, JD Vance, that Haitian immigrants in Ohio have been kidnapping pets and consuming them, “causing chaos” in the city.
The complaint largely originates from social media, including a Facebook group called ‘Springfield Ohio Crime and Information,’ where one member said he knew someone who had seen a cat hanging from a branch in a way that looked like it was going to be ‘butchered and cut up’ near a home where Haitians lived, according to Newsweek Magazine.
At a city commission meeting, Springfield’s mayor said, “Rumors like these are diverting attention from real issues, such as housing concerns, the resources needed for our schools and our overburdened health care system.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby also denounced Trump’s claims, calling them a dangerous conspiracy theory that could inspire violence against immigrants.
Immigration is a dominant issue in the presidential race. Twenty-two percent of voters were found to consider immigration and the border the most important issue facing the country, according to a poll conducted by NBC in April.
Ever since Elon Musk launched ‘Grok-2’, an AI-generated platform available through X, users have been making memes of Trump saving animals from ‘being eaten by Haitian immigrants’
In some of the AI-created posts, Trump is shirtless and appears to be running away from people portrayed as “dog eaters.”
Springfield, Ohio, is home to about 60,000 people, but has seen thousands of immigrants arrive in the state in recent years, many of whom are from Haiti.
City officials say as many as 20,000 immigrants have made Springfield their new home, reversing a long decline in the city’s population that has declined over the past 60 years, according to the BBC.
While there were plenty of memes circulating around Trump’s comments throughout the debate, his Springfield comment seemed to be the favorite — and craziest — on social media.
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