US elections 2024: How Peanut the squirrel became latest campaign talking point
Mark Longo with his pet Peanut
US elections 2024: The Instagram-famous pet squirrelPeanut was euthanised on November 1 by New York wildlife officials and this soon became a campaign talking point, two days ahead of the US presidential election.
From Republicans Donald Trump, and JD Vance to Elon Musk and other supporters of Trump, everyone started slamming the Democrats for the euthanasia of the squirrel.
Trump’s vice presidential pick Vance said on Sunday (Nov 3) that Trump was “fired up” about Peanut’s death. He said this during a campaign rally in North Carolina’s Sanford.
President @realDonaldTrump will save the squirrels 🐿️ 😢
RIP P’Nut pic.twitter.com/yoIBV0Okpd — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2024
"The same government that doesn't care about hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant criminals coming into our country doesn't want us to have pets," the Ohio senator told supporters in North Carolina. "It's the craziest thing."
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The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) seized the animal on October 30 as they were notified of potentially unsafehousing for the pet.
But why there is a lot of political hullabaloo over a squirrel?
How Peanutthe squirrel became latest campaign talking point in US elections
Peanutthe squirrel was rescued by a man named Mark Longo after its mother was run over by a car. Peanut has been with Mark for seven long years and is quite popular on Instagram.
Some of Peanut’s viral videos include Peanut nibbling on waffles, donning tiny hats and costumes, and jumping through loops. The page had 540,000 followers as of Sunday.
A post shared by Peanut The Squirrel (@peanut_the_squirrel12)
Since 2023, Mark and his wife Daniela have been running an animal sanctuary called P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary which has around 300 animals.
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On October 30, the DEC “forcefully” seized two pets of Mark- Peanut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon, as the department received complaints over “unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies.” After this, the authorities euthanised both the animals.
Soon, Republicans and netizens started blaming the ruling government of Democrats for such an unprecedented act.
Besides Vance, Republicans like New York Congressman Nick Langworthy also slammed the "unannounced raid", saying the state has sanctuaries for illegal immigrants but not for innocent pets.
(With inputs from agencies)