The really heinous thing about this “They’re eating pets” messaging from Trump and Vance, as well as Musk, Miller, etc., is that it isn’t even really about what is or isn’t factually happening in Springfield. It’s about signaling to their base that all’s fair in marginalizing and attacking migrants and other vulnerable out-groups—signaling that these undesirables deserve nothing, not even minimum decency and fairness. Concern for decency and fairness to migrants and other vulnerable groups is “wokeness,” and by making it clear just how “anti-woke” they are, just how low they are willing to go in the great battle of Us versus Them, they’re bidding for votes based on the worst impulses of their target audience.