# Theyre Eating The Dogs 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. ## 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 News[1]. 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 debate[5]. An ABC News moderator interrupted to fact-check him on air, telling viewers there were no credible reports of pets being eaten in Springfield[1]. The line spread within minutes on X, Reddit and TikTok[4]. The meme took two main forms: absurdist reaction jokes pairing the audio with dogs, cats or AI images of Trump with pets[6], and a TikTok trend where users filmed their own pets reacting to Trump saying the line[7]. ## How It Spread The quote started trending on X within minutes of Trump saying it[3]. 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 day[2]. 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 window[3]. The clip hit Reddit's r/ThatsInsane the same night and reached over 16,000 upvotes in a day[4]. 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 likes[6]. 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 line[6]. 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 day[7]. ## How to Use 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 camera[7], drop the line under an unrelated shock reaction shot (the Simpsons dog-and-cat look is the template starter[2]), or pair it with AI images of Trump surrounded by cats, ducks or geese[5]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Theyre Eating The Dogs? It's a catchphrase from Donald Trump at the September 10, 2024 presidential debate, which spawned reaction memes across X and a dog-reaction video trend on TikTok[1]. ### Where did Theyre Eating The Dogs come from? Trump said the line during his ABC News debate with Kamala Harris, repeating a debunked rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents' pets[1]. ### What does Theyre Eating The Dogs mean? The phrase points to Trump's on-air claim and the live fact-check that followed[1], and the meme uses the audio as absurd context for pet reaction videos[7]. ### How do you use Theyre Eating The Dogs? Play the audio clip of Trump saying the line over your pet reacting to it, or pair it with a shocked cat, dog or AI image of Trump with animals[7]. ### Is Theyre Eating The Dogs still popular? The meme peaked in September 2024 around the debate, when top posts pulled hundreds of thousands of likes on X and TikTok in a day[3]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgsC_aBquUE]() 2. [https://twitter.com/PatrikSandberg]() 3. [https://twitter.com/deadeyebrakeman]() 4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/theyre-eating-the-dogs]() 6. [https://twitter.com/ellievhall]() 7. [https://www.tiktok.com/@thebossyaussies]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/theyre-eating-the-dogs Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library