Francis Ford Coppola Says Donald Trump’s Comments About Pet-Eating Immigrants Are “So Outrageously Insulting”

Francis Ford Coppolais the latest celebrity to addressDonald Trump‘s debate comments accusing immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating pets.

“I really was infuriated during the debates, when Haitian people were disparaged,” the filmmaker wrote in a post shared on Instagram. “I feel Haitian people are among the most kind, generous, talented, wonderful I have ever known. They have never been forgiven for winning what was a slave-revolt, and have been punished ever since they liberated themselves.”

Coppola added that he finds the pet-eating claims “so outrageously insulting to a brave, creative and absolutely wonderful people, I cannot tolerate or remain silent.”

He accompanied his message with a still from the Haitian filmFredaby Gessica Généus, which Coppola notes he supported.

During Tuesday’s debate, the former president went on a rant about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he claimed. Moderator David Muir said on the air during the debate that the Springfield city manager had said there were “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

AsTheWashington Postreported, the rumor started after an account on X (formerly Twitter) called End Wokenessposteda screenshot on Sept. 6 of a Facebook post from a private group called Springfield Ohio Crime and Information, in which someone warned that a neighbor’s daughter’s friend lost her cat and later found it at a house where a group of people from Haiti were living, with the cat hanging from a branch, seemingly being carved up to eat.

The day ahead of the debate, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vancetweeted, “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

A video from last month has also made the rounds on social media of a woman being arrested in Ohio after allegedly eating a cat. Conservative social media accounts saw it as evidence of the claims about immigrants. However, thearrestoccurredinCanton, not Springfield. A Canton police department representative told thePostthat the woman is not Haitian; she is a “US citizen that was born in Canton, Ohio.”

Springfield, Ohio, native John Legend alsospoke out against Trump’s remarks, sharing some history of population changes in the city ina video posted to social media on Thursday.

Legend said, in part, “Nobody’s eating cats, nobody’s eating dogs. We all just want to live and flourish and raise our families in a healthy and safe environment. How about we love one another?”