Blaming immigrants for eating pets was an American urban legend years before Donald Trump spread the rumor about Haitians in Ohio.

Growing up, the story that Chinese restaurants used dogs or cats as their source for chop suey or chow mein made the rounds about as frequently as the story that some kid was bitten by a rattlesnake while riding on the Ferris Wheel or some other carnival ride. Neither, of course, were true but that didn’t keep kids from telling them.

Sen. JD Vance and others shared a new video and article alleging African immigrants were seen preparing to grill dead cats.

"It just exploded into something I didn't mean to happen," Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, told NBC News on Friday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is countering a right-wing smear campaign against Haitian immigrants in his state. During a Sunday stop on ABC This Week, DeWine said "absolutely not" when asked if he'd seen any evidence of the claims,