Theyre Eating The Dogs — Donald Trump at debate with quote about eating dogs and cats, with shocked dog reaction image

Theyre Eating The Dogs

2024catchphrasedeclining

Published August 12, 2026

They're Eating the Dogs is a catchphrase pulled from Donald Trump's September 10, 2024 debate against Kamala Harris, where he claimed Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents' pets. The line was fact-checked live on ABC News and spawned two meme formats within hours: absurdist X reactions and TikTok videos of dogs listening to the clip.

trump memes catchphrase memes 2024 election memes debate memes absurdist humor memes

Overview

They're Eating the Dogs is a catchphrase from Donald Trump, spoken during the September 10, 2024 presidential debate against Kamala Harris on ABC News1. While arguing about immigration, Trump claimed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents' pets, a rumor that had been circulating online in the days before the debate5. An ABC News moderator interrupted to fact-check him on air, telling viewers there were no credible reports of pets being eaten in Springfield1.

The line spread within minutes on X, Reddit and TikTok4. The meme took two main forms: absurdist reaction jokes pairing the audio with dogs, cats or AI images of Trump with pets6, and a TikTok trend where users filmed their own pets reacting to Trump saying the line7.

Origin & Background

Platform
ABC News debate (source) / X and TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
Donald Trump
Date
2024

The clip comes from the September 10, 2024 debate on ABC News, streamed by The Wall Street Journal on YouTube1. Around the 33:10 mark, while talking about immigration, Trump said, '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 and it's a shame.' The claim referenced an unverified rumor about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio that had been passed around on social media in the preceding days5. One of the ABC News moderators pushed back live, telling Trump that no credible reports of pets being eaten existed1.

How It Spread

The quote started trending on X within minutes of Trump saying it3. On the night of September 10, user @PatrikSandberg posted a Simpsons clip in which the family dog and cat glance nervously at each other, a nod to the Simpsons town being named Springfield, and passed 29,000 likes in a day2. User @deadeyebrakeman's post, 'I can't believe "they're eating the dogs" was a REBUTTAL to "You say weird stuff at your rallies,"' cleared 187,000 likes in the same window3.

The clip hit Reddit's r/ThatsInsane the same night and reached over 16,000 upvotes in a day4. Later that evening, X user @ellievhall shared an image of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama laughing, captioned as if they were retelling Trump's line, and pulled past 146,000 likes6.

The second format kicked in on September 11: dog-reaction videos. X user @Tarquin_Helmet uploaded a clip filming their dog's response to the line6. On TikTok the same day, users started building videos around an original sound of the quote, with @thebossyaussies posting an early version featuring a startled Australian Shepherd that pushed past 225,000 views inside a day7.

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How to Use This Meme

The format typically uses the audio of Trump saying 'they're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats.' Common versions either cut to a pet reacting on camera7, drop the line under an unrelated shock reaction shot (the Simpsons dog-and-cat look is the template starter2), or pair it with AI images of Trump surrounded by cats, ducks or geese5.

Frequently Asked Questions