Rich Lowry, the conservative editor-in-chief of the National Review, sparked a social media uproar this week after allegedly saying the N-word while discussing baseless claims about Haitian migrants in Ohio during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
Lowry has since denied using the racial slur, which came as he addressed false claims by the Trump campaign accusing Haitian migrants of eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The controversy involving Lowry follows Kelly’s own defense of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who, over the weekend, admitted that he fabricated the story about Haitians eating cats and dogs to draw more attention to the immigration crisis while aiming to weaponize the issue against Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Despite no evidence and local officials debunking the claims, many Republicans continue to push the false narrative of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets, with Lowry appearing to support it, based on his comments to Megyn Kelly.
During the conversation, Lowry also defended Vance’s strategy of using racially charged rhetoric to damage Harris by linking her to President Joe Biden’s policy that has allowed some Haitian migrants in the country legally.
“You remember alternative facts with Kellyanne? They did the same thing,” Lowry said, referencing Donald Trump’s former senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, who sparked controversy during his term for defending inaccurate claims, including her infamous use of the term “alternative facts” to justify the administration’s travel ban on Muslim-majority countries.
Despite this, Lowry sang his support for Conway’s deceptive tactics that promoted white nationalism, drawing a comparison to the racially charged campaign strategy now being employed by Vance.
“She wasn’t saying you make up fictions and pretend they’re facts. You bring other facts to bear in the debate that are being ignored,” Lowry explained.
However, he stumbled into controversy when he attempted to clarify his point.
“That’s what [Vance] was saying,” Lowry continued. “I think it was in that interview where Dana Bash says, ‘Police have gone through 11 months of recordings of calls, and they’ve only found two Springfield residents calling to complain about Haitian ni—r,” Lowry slipped but then quickly corrected himself with “migrants” and then completed his point.
“Only two calls and I think one lesson in this whole story: People don’t care about geese. People really hate geese. All things considered, I think people would prefer Haitian migrants to come and take the geese off the golf course,” Lowry summed up.
Kelly didn’t show any reaction to Lowry’s slip of the tongue.
Footage of the interview has since gone viral, with social media erupting in outrage over Lowry’s comment and also confronting him over what he said overall.
“Wow. Rich Lowry called Haitian immigrants ‘the n-word’ at the 42-second mark here while defending Trump and Vance making up the story about Springfield, Ohio,” X user @MikeNellis wrote over a video clip of the incident. “Listen for yourself — it’s hard to hear it any other way. Unbelievable.”
Another user slowed down the clip to try to get to the bottom of what was said.
“I took the clip of Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of National Review, from ‘The Megyn Kelly Show’ and slowed it to 30% on Premiere Pro while maintaining the pitch,” said @DecodingFoxNews. “Lowry was talking about Haitian migrants. The captions were generated by AI. It sounds like he said the n-word.”
A fiery debate also erupted in many comments sections over whether Lowry used an “N” or an “M” when he misspoke during the interview.
In response to the post, Andrew McCarthy, a colleague of Lowry’s at the National Review, twisted himself in knots trying to defend the offensive remark.
Lowry also tried to clear things up later, saying in his own post that he had made an honest mistake.
“Yep, this is exactly what happened — I began to mispronounce the word ‘migrants’ and caught myself halfway through,” Lowry explained afterward on X.
In response to the uproar, Kelly defended Lowry’s character. “This is so disgusting and obviously leveled by someone that doesn’t know @RichLowry at all,” she posted on X. “A finer, more gracious man of good character you will never meet.”
Social media users didn’t let her get away easily, though, with many noting she did not challenge Lowry at all after his apparent use of a racial slur.
“Just when you think they’re at the Earth’s core, they keep on digging. Megan Kelly defends Rich Lowry,” one user wrote of Kelly’s comments. “Republicans aren’t hiding their true feelings as much,” another user responded.
Another added, “This is the most ridiculous spin..”
The false claims about Haitian migrants originated from an Aug. 20 animal cruelty case in Canton, Ohio, where 27-year-old Allexis Telia Ferrell, a non-Haitian Black woman, was arrested for allegedly killing a cat in front of multiple witnesses.
The pet-eating rumor spread to Springfield around Sept. 5, according to ABC News, citing the online misinformation tracker NewsGuard.
The false narrative took root despite Springfield being 170 miles southwest of the initial incident in Canton and that the suspect in the case was an American citizen.
NewsGuard identified a Springfield resident who first shared the false claim in a Facebook group, alleging that Haitians were “carving up” a neighbor’s friend’s cat, though the exact date of this post remains unclear.
From there, a conservative account on X with more than 2.9 million followers conveniently amplified the rumor by posting a screenshot of the Facebook post with the caption, “Under Harris and Biden, 20,000 Haitian immigrants were shipped to the town. Now ducks and pets are disappearing.”
By Sept. 9, the false rumor caught the attention of the Trump campaign when Vance asserted, without evidence, that “people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
In the aftermath of the comments, multiple bomb threats have forced the evacuation of hospitals, schools, and government buildings all around Springfield, while Vance and Republican nominee Donald Trump continue to push the fake narrative.
During his Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Vance remained defiant and played it off like he didn’t have anything to do with the fallout in Springfield, saying, “All that I’ve done is surface the complaints of my constituents, people who are suffering because of Kamala Harris’ policies.”
Later in the interview, Vance all but admitted that he and Trump were exaggerating claims about Haitian migrants to stir up immigration fears among the American public.
At the same time, Vance attempted to deflect responsibility for the resulting bomb threats by attributing his false claims to “firsthand accounts” he had heard from his constituents.
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” Vance told Bash. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do, Dana.”
Instead of acknowledging his role in spreading false and inflammatory claims, Vance became more combative and dismissed any suggestion that he was responsible for inciting the bomb threats in Springfield, calling the suggestion “disgusting.”
“There is nothing that I have said that has led to threats against these hospitals,” Vance said, downplaying his clear role in inciting the violence. “These hospitals, the bomb threats and so forth. It’s disgusting. The violence is disgusting. We condemn all violence.”
Following his aggressive appearance, Vance tried to save face on social media.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” Vance said in a post on the social platform X.
Last week, a Springfield police spokesperson addressed the issue, stating, “In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
