Little Haiti VH1 star: Trump’s comments about immigrants eating pets ‘hurt a part of my heart’

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This story was originally published in the Key Biscayne Independent, a WLRN News partner.

Guy Marlon Dure, a Haitian-American entrepreneur and VH1 star, said it “hurt a part of my heart” when during Tuesday’s debate he heard former President Trump amplify the false rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting dogs and cats to eat them.

“When you’re saying that immigrants are killing and eating people’s pets and there’s no record by the police or anybody over there, that’s making false statements,” said Dure, who is a cast member of VH1’s reality series Love and Hip-Hop Miami.

“It hurts from our (former) president saying that on national television in front of everybody.”

Dure was interviewed Wednesday at his restaurant La Fourchette in Little Haiti. He said Vice President Kamala Harris deserved his support because of Trump’s statement.

Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance claimed Monday that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people’s pets. The Trump campaign repeated Vance’s claim in a news release on Monday.

READ MORE: If we demonize Haitians in Ohio, why do we still allow Ohioans in Florida?

His supporters started posting racist A.I.-generated memes on social media on the subject. A billboard campaign launched by the Republican Party of Arizona at 12 sites in metropolitan Phoenix plays off the false rumors. The billboard image resembles a Chick-fil-A ad, portraying four kittens and urging people to “Vote Republican!” and “Eat Less Kittens.”

Photo Provided by Guy Marlon Dure

Guy Marlon Dure, a Haitian entrepreneur and VH1 star in Miami said President Trump discriminated against Haitians by amplifying the false rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting dogs and cats to eat them.

“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,” Trump said during the debate.

Debate co-moderator, ABC News anchor David Muir, then told the audience that Springfield’s city manager has said there were no reliable reports of the allegation.

Trump and Vance after the debate doubled down on the claim when interviewed by right-wing media.

“Believe it or not, I feel like it’s discrimination because you’re picking certain people from a different country or different part of the world — he doesn’t only say Haitians, he says immigrants,” Dure said.

Some people in other countries may consume cats or dogs due to cultural traditions, but Dure said that people shouldn’t condemn them.

This is not the first time that Trump has disparaged nations with a large Black population. In 2018, he pushed for increased immigration from Norway and referred to Haiti and other African nations as “shithole” countries.

With the lure of manufacturing jobs in Springfield, about 15,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield with a total population of 60,000 in the past few years legally, with valid work permits.

“The U.S. is about everybody — everybody from every culture. The diversity makes us the way we are. That’s what makes America great,” Dure said.

The city of Springfield said the Haitian immigrants are in the country legally under a federal program that allows for them to remain in the country temporarily.

Last month the Biden administration granted eligibility for temporary legal status to about 300,000 Haitians already in the United States because conditions in Haiti are considered unsafe for them to return.

Trump’s campaign has also tried to use the August 2023 death of an 11-year-old Ohio boy after a vehicle driven by an immigrant from Haiti hit the boy’s school bus. On Tuesday, the boy’s father demanded Trump stop using his son’s death for “political gain.”

Dure’s brother, Camille, said Haitians should be known for their accomplishments — not for Trump’s rhetoric. An aspiring businessman, his mom is a physician who worked for “médecins sans frontières,” French for doctors without borders, in Haiti.

“It did get under my skin, but Trump is known for that. He’s known to always want to make noise,” Camille Dure said.

Guy Marlon Dure grew up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in a neighborhood of the capital named Bas Peu de Chose. He moved to Pennsylvania at 17 and then attended Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

Dure and his wife, Florence El Luche, have three sons and own multiple businesses, including La Fourchette Restaurant, Siret Cosmetics and the clothing store Abiye Boutik.

The couple are popular musicians who have garnered national fame after joining VH1’s hit show.

When a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, Dure and a group of 20 volunteers distributed tents, flashlights and food to more than 30,000. There were 1.3 million displaced people, 300,000 injured, and nearly 222,570 deaths from the earthquake.

“It was an honor to go back home and help my fellow brothers and sisters that were in need even the older people, especially the senior citizens, they were unable to sustain all this time with no water and electricity,” he said.

“Even though I wasn’t able to help everybody, but the people we managed to help during that time – it was a great feeling.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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