As I just posted in the How Has Trump Pissed You Off thread, he and Vance had been assured the rumors were false before trump even claimed it at the debates.
Per Heather Richardson Cox, regarding the "eating cats and dogs in Springfield:
That story has gotten even darker as it turns out Vance and Trump received definitive assurances on September 9 that the rumor was false, but Trump ran with it in the presidential debate of September 10 anyway.
More than a week ago, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance's staff was told by Springfield officials that a racially charged rumor Vance had been amplifying was false, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
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