Golden Retriever's Reaction to Trump Saying 'Dog Was Eaten' Goes Viral

A golden retriever's hilarious reaction to former President Donald Trump claiming that a dog was eaten by immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, has gone viral.

Trump faced Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris in the first televised debate between the two candidates on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The debate was hosted by ABC News, and the candidates tackled questions about the economy, immigration, race, Israel and Ukraine.

During the debate, Trump said that undocumented immigrants were eating pets in the U.S., a claim that seemingly terrified one golden retriever watching the debate with its owner.

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In the clip that quickly went viral across social media, the dog's owner is recording as it watches the debate from a sofa.

"A dog was taken and used for food," Trump said before adding that people claimed their "dog was eaten" by immigrants.

Seemingly horrified, the dog flees its spot on the sofa and leaps over the side to hide behind the furniture.

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"THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS," the post on X, formerly Twitter, by @Tarquin_Helmet said.

The post, made early Tuesday morning, has 3.3 million views as of 12:30 p.m. ET. It has 81,000 likes on X, 7,600 saves, and 13,000 reposts.

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Trump spent much of the debate discussing immigrants, including the rumors that some were consuming people's pets. The rumor appeared to start with a post on a private Facebook page, in which a woman claimed Haitians had taken her friend's cat, hung it from a tree and were carving it up to eat, Newsweek previously reported.

"What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country. And look at what's happening to the towns all over the United States," Trump said during the debate.

"And a lot of towns don't want to talk—not going to be Aurora [, Colorado] or Springfield [, Ohio]," Trump said during the debate. "A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating—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."

A spokesperson for Springfield, Ohio, previously told Newsweek that there have been"no credible reports" that pets or other animals had been harmed by members of the growing immigrant community there.

During the debate, moderator David Muir said, "The Springfield city manager says there's no evidence of that."

"We'll find out," Trump replied.