Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have decided to go all-in on fabricated stories about immigrants eating peoples' pets in Ohio.

Earlier this week, a Facebook user shared a post on a Springfield, Ohio group claiming "a friend of their neighbor's daughter" found their missing cat hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor's home – as they were preparing to eat it.

Despite city officials releasing a statement saying there have been "no credible reports" that such a thing took place, the wild tale went viral, and was eventually shared by Vance, the state's senator.

In an X post shared on Tuesday, Vance explained he has been receiving "many inquiries" from residents who claim "pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants."

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Though he admitted it "possible... that all of these rumors will turn out to be false," Vance urged his followers to keep sharing it anyway.

"In short, don't let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots," Vance wrote. "Keep the cat memes flowing."

Later that evening, Trump debated his rival Kamala Harris, in which at one point, he randomly brought up the story, insisting that migrants were "eating the dogs" in Springfield.

When debate moderator David Muir attempted to fact-check him, Trump argued that he saw it on television, adding, "We'll see."

Trump's decision to bring up the racist fantasy was met with heavy criticism, but he and his running mate are sticking by it.

After the debate, Vance did an interview with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, who said she was "surprised" Trump brought up the "misleading false claim."

"Trump just amplified it to tens of millions of people who were watching," Collins said. "Why push something that's not true?"

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Vance argued that people "think that it is happening," and bemoaned journalists for not investigating further.

"I think it's interesting that the media didn't care about the carnage brought by these policies until we turned it into a meme about cats!" Vance exclaimed. "And that speaks to the media's failures to care about what's going on in these communities."

Collins pressed back, "If someone calls your office, and says they saw big foot, that doesn't mean they saw big foot," and argued he and Trump have a responsibility to "not promote false information."

While Vance noted it was a "totally fair point," he went on to argue that "no one is calling my office to say they saw big foot."

Immediately after the debate, Trump began sharing a series of AI-generated memes on his Truth Social platform, including one showing a kitty donning a MAGA hat and an assault rifle, and another showing the former president on his private plane filled with animals he would save.

On Wednesday, he shared a video clip of police body cam footage showing an Ohio woman being arrested for eating a cat "in front of shocked neighbors."

But according to Reuters, the woman in the video is Allexis Telia Ferrell, a "life-long" resident of Canton, Ohio, where the arrest took place back in August. She is not of Haitian descent.

Trump also shared a news story referencing a police report and 911 phone call in which a Springfield resident claimed to have seen a group of Haitian migrants carrying four geese.

There have been no reports of any actual arrests made in relation to the incident.