Donald Trump’s attempt to attack Vice President Kamala Harris with a widely debunked online falsehood about Haitian migrants backfired on the Republican nominee, becoming one of the signature moments of their first — and possibly only — debate.

Halfway through their encounter Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Trump assailed Harris over US border policy and claimed that migrants in the Ohio city of Springfield were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city’s manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.

Trump’s assertion echoed apocryphal stories circulating worldwide on X and other social media sites that Haitian migrants in Springfield were behind a wave of local crime and to blame for the disappearances of cats and dogs. Supporters of the former president — including X owner Elon Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on the platform — promoted and reposted the claims in the days before the debate.

The episode highlighted the risk for political candidates, including Trump and his right-leaning allies, of embracing conspiracy theories that don’t survive the light of day off social media. It quickly turned into a focus of derision toward Trump and a symbol of everything that had gone wrong for the former president during his debate with Harris. By Wednesday morning he was signaling that there might not be a rematch.

Trump has been trying to emphasize immigration in his campaign against Harris and pivoted to it often during the debate, but repeating the falsehood about the Haitian immigrants in Ohio won’t help the former president, said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and veteran of Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“At best, it’s a distraction,” Conant said. “At worst, it reminds people of the all the craziness that comes with Trump.”

The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prominent personalities often seize on trending narratives to find an audience or appeal to their existing followers, according to experts who study disinformation. The ultimate goal often is to amplify their rhetoric, rather than promote talking points based on truth, they said.

“Often times we will see influencers capitalize on conspiracy theories and falsehoods to manipulate or influence public discourse or opinion, even when they don’t believe them because the narratives themselves are preposterous,” said Lisa Kaplan, founder and chief executive officer of Alethea, an anti-misinformation firm. “This is typically done for political, personal, or financial gain — and to generate more engagement online.”

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