Are we going to see Donald Trump arrive, in the final hours of the electoral campaign, dressed as a squirrel, as he was as a McDonald's employee, then as a garbage collector during his last two weeks of the campaign? The death of Peanut, a domesticated squirrel, star of social networks in the United States, has relaunched all the craziest rumors. The small animal was euthanized after the intervention on Friday of no less than ten police officers from the New York State Environmental Conservation Office at the home of the couple who owned the rodent. However, this state is Democratic. Too good an opportunity for Republicans to denounce the cruelty of the left towards pets, of which Americans are fond.
Equipped with a search warrant, the police ended up, after five hours of searching, finding the star squirrel as well as Fred, a raccoon who shared the life of Mark Longo, owner of these animals considered to be wild animals that can transmit rabies to humans. “To detect them, the two animals were euthanized”the New York State Department of Environmental Protection and the Chemung County Health Department, south of the town of Ithaca on the Pennsylvania border, said yesterday. The tragedy of Peanut and his friend Fred caused a reaction on the American conservative web.
“Kamala's gang executed a cute pet squirrel named Peanut! »
Robby Starbuck, an important voice among the antiwoke, jumped at the opportunity, on his X thread: “Kamala's gang executed a cute pet squirrel named Peanut because they're crazy. Vote Trump to avenge Peanut! Seriously: if Trump includes Peanut in his speech with an RIP graphic behind him, this race is officially over. We want justice for Peanut! »
“President Trump will save the squirrels”also wrote about X, Elon Musk, with an emoji of a squirrel and a crying face.
The satirical site Babylon Bee (American equivalent of Gorafi) was moved as follows: “Radicalized squirrels wearing MAGA hats are starting to rise up. »
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Worse, a fake letterhead from Donald Trump's campaign circulated all day giving the impression that the Republican candidate was reacting. Shared tens of thousands of times on X. “There have been horrific reports coming out of New York, my home state, where state environmental agents searched the home of Mark Longo and his wife. Mark was held in custody for hours while authorities searched his home and eventually took two of their pets, Fred the raccoon and Peanut the squirrel. These animals were subsequently executed by the State of New York”says this bogus statement.
“New York authorities, under the leadership of their terrible governor, devoted more effort to finding and eliminating a squirrel, which was innocent in all respects, than to controlling the uncontrolled illegal immigrants who flooded into their state. » The text ends like this: “If Peanut could have told them he was from Mexico, they would have let him walk home and given him a hotel room and a $500 gift card to Buddy Squirrel (“Le pote écureuil” is an American confectionery chain specializing in almonds and walnuts, Editor’s note). »
Dozens of memes have drawn on the analogy between the treatment of migrants in New York State and that suffered by Peanut and Fred. Final twist of this series: the priority of the deceased squirrel expressed on X his support for the Republican candidate – visual generated by AI in support, representing Trump as an animal defender.
This news, however slight it may seem in Europe, is not trivial across the Atlantic. Americans are deeply attached to their pets: more than 66% have at least one in their home.
Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, had long been a favorite to become Donald Trump's running mate. But the latter had shot herself in the foot by pouring out a little too much into a book. A passage of some 1,500 characters in her memoirs recounted how the Republican had herself shot her wire-haired griffon, only a few months old, after a pheasant hunt. His pet “who tried to bite her » and attacked his neighbors' chickens had been killed by a bullet in the head by the chosen one herself, delighted to show how intractable she could be. Trump did not react directly but his campaign advisers immediately ruled out the possibility that Noem could appear on the ticket. Today, the Republicans are tied with the Democrats on this ground.
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