Vice presidential hopeful JD Vance refused to walk back on the falsehoods he and his running mate Donald Trump have peddled on the campaign trail about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, instead expressing frustration with local officials and their handling of the migrant crisis.

In an interview with New York Times opinion podcaster Lulu Garcia-Navarro released Saturday, Vance pushed back against questions of whether or not he regretted his role in helping spread rumors about Haitian migrants abducting and eating cats and dogs. This baseless conspiracy theory plunged the city into turmoil, leading to bomb threats and school closures.

“It is disgraceful that American leaders pretend they care about these migrants more than they care about the people they took an oath of office to actually look after,” the Ohio senator said.