'They're eating the dogs!' Trump fact-check as he vents over widely debunked hoax

During the presidential debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump repeated a debunked viral hoax about Haitian migrants eating people's pets in Ohio — and then argued with the moderators when they tried to fact-check him.

He started by complaining that Vice President Kamala Harris "pays people to go" to her rallies, in response to Harris' prior remark that people were leaving Trump's rallies out of boredom. "We have the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. That's because people want to take their country back. our country is being lost ... 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."

"A lot of towns don't want to talk ... in Springfield, they're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats. The people that came in. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country," he continued.

Debate moderator David Muir cut in. "I just want to clarify here. You bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of petting being harmed, pets injured or abused within the immigrant community."

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"I've seen people on television!" Trump insisted. "The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food."

"I'm not taking this from television," said Muir as Trump tried to talk over him. "I'm taking it from the city manager."

At this point, all Harris could do was laugh. "Talk about extreme!" she said.