German’s foreign ministry took a shot at former President Donald Trump this week saying that people in the country “don’t eat cats and dogs.”
On Wednesday, the German Foreign Office shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, speaking about Tuesday’s presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
During the debate, Trump alleged that Germany had failed in a planned move away from fossil fuels and is now building “normal power plants.”
“Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables. And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest,” the German Foreign Office wrote on X.
The ministry ended its message with a swipe at Trump: “PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs.”
The cats and dogs comment was a reference to a moment during Tuesday’s debate when Trump brought up a debunked rumor spreading online that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
While responding to Harris’ claim that people leave his rallies early, Trump said the reason people attend his rallies is because they “want to take their country back.” He then linked their discussion of rally attendance to the immigration debate, which brought him to the pet-eating claims.
“What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country—and look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States,” the former president said.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs—the people that came in,” Trump continued. “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.”
On social media, conservative figures have repeated claims that in Springfield, a city where the Haitian population has grown by about 20,000 in the past four years, immigrants were killing and eating people’s pets and the ducks in local parks.
However, earlier this week, Springfield police told local newspaper the Springfield News-Sun that they have received no official reports of such activity.
“It is not something that’s on our radar right now,” the police said.
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield also previously told Newsweek there had been “no credible reports” of pets or other animals being harmed or abused by members of the growing immigrant community there.
In addition to the German Foreign Minister’s office, other individuals have also criticized Trump’s remarks following the debate.
Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat from California, commented on the moment: “Donald Trump is whining about crowd sizes and claiming people are eating their pets. We cannot take this man seriously.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.