PHILADELPHIA, Sept 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Republican nominee Donald Trump vilified immigrants in his presidential debate Tuesday with Democrat Kamala Harris, repeating debunked claims that new Haitian arrivals in US state Ohio were "eating the cats" of residents.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs -- the people that came in -- 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," Trump said, contradicting the Springfield city manager, who said such accusations had no basis in fact.