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PODCAST

J.D. Vance’s Ugly Rants About Cat-Eating Haitians Just Got Even Worse

As the Trump camp pushes a vile new smear, a former conservative who left the movement explains how this saga illuminates the inner workings of MAGA dehumanization.

J.D. Vance frowns
Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Senator J.D. Vance in Philadelphia, on August 6

In recent days, the Trump campaign, J.D. Vance, and other prominent MAGA figures have pushed a repulsive falsehood: that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets. Though this was decisively debunked, Vance issued a long, twisted rant on social media calling on supporters to keep pushing versions of the lie. This saga exposes something disturbing about MAGA dehumanization campaigns. We talked to Matthew Sheffield, a writer and podcaster at Flux and former member of the conservative movement who is now an illuminating critic of the right. He explains how this vile trope illustrates how MAGA propaganda really functions. Listen to this episode here.