When you come at JD Vance, you better be ready to face the fire. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins certainly wasn’t, as she tried and failed to corner Vance in a post-debate interview over one of the most bizarre issues currently spinning Democrats into a frenzy — cat memes.
Yes, you read that right. The memes in question emerged from reports in Springfield, Ohio, where residents have alleged that Haitian migrants were slaughtering geese, ducks, and, according to some, even people’s pets. It’s an issue that Trump brought up in the debate, pointing to it as yet another symptom of the border crisis spiraling out of control. The debate moderators, obviously in the bag for Kamala Harris, were ready to dismiss it, citing the Springfield city manager who claimed there was no truth to the reports.
But here’s the thing: That’s not what residents are saying.
Collins pressed Vance on this in the interview, attempting to paint him as a conspiracy-pushing Republican. “Trump brought up this misleading, false claim about Haitian immigrants abducting pets and eating them, which officials there have said is not true. You yourself acknowledged it may be false, yet you told people to keep spreading it. Why push something that’s not true?”
Vance didn’t miss a beat. He shot back, explaining that while the city officials might want to sweep it under the rug, the people on the ground are telling a very different story. “We’ve heard from a number of constituents… firsthand and secondhand reports saying this stuff is happening,” he told Collins. “The people dealing with this believe it’s happening.”
And just like that, Vance flipped the script on Collins.
“I think it’s important for journalists to actually get on the ground and uncover this stuff for themselves,” he said. “When you’ve got people saying their pets are being abducted and the geese at the city pond are being slaughtered, this is crazy stuff.”
Vance wasn’t done there. He pointed to the bigger picture — a town overwhelmed by 20,000 migrants, with skyrocketing healthcare and housing costs, and outbreaks of diseases like HIV and tuberculosis. “This is what Kamala Harris’s border policies have done,” Vance declared. He then delivered the knockout blow, accusing the media of only caring about the story once it became a meme. “If we have to meme about it to get the media to care, we’re going to keep doing it,” he added.
.@JDVance SCHOOLS CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on the media’s disinterest in covering the effects of unmitigated migration in places like Springfield, OH. It took cat memes. pic.twitter.com/HxCcl6YUpz
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 11, 2024
Collins weakly tried to defend the media’s coverage, but Vance wasn’t having it. The senator, undeterred by her deflections, said bluntly that the media wouldn’t touch the story if it weren’t for the meme culture poking holes in their narrative.
When Collins compared the claims to people spotting Bigfoot, Vance gave a reality check: “Kaitlan, nobody’s calling my office saying they saw Bigfoot. They’re saying their dogs and cats are being kidnapped, and city officials aren’t doing anything about it.”
Bam!
