Excessive-profile conservatives and Donald Trump supporters—together with Elon Musk—have galvanized across the loss of life of an internet-famous squirrel following New York state authorities’ determination to euthanize the animal, utilizing the incident as an argument for presidency overreach someday earlier than the U.S. presidential election.
The New York State Division of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday seized and euthanized Peanut the squirrel from the house of content material creator Mark Longo, who lives and operates an animal sanctuary in Pine Metropolis, N.Y. Longo runs a Peanut the squirrel Instagram account with over 695,000 followers, which featured the animal performing tips.
The squirrel’s loss of life has rallied conservative forces, from Donald Trump to Republicans on the Home Judiciary Committee, to Musk, who’ve lambasted the DEC’s actions. Over the weekend, Musk posted on X a number of occasions in regards to the incident, calling the DEC’s intervention a type of “authorities overreach.”
“The federal government shouldn’t be allowed to barge into your home and kill your pet! That’s tousled,” Musk stated in an X submit Saturday. “Even whether it is unlawful to have a pet squirrel (which it shouldn’t be), why kill PNut as a substitute of merely releasing him into the forest!?”
Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance stated on Sunday at a rally in Sanford, N.C., that working mate Trump was “fired up” in regards to the squirrel’s loss of life. Republicans have beforehand tried to invoke sympathy for animals as a rallying cry in opposition to the federal government, spreading the false story that Haitian immigrants in Ohio eat canines and cats.
“The identical authorities that doesn’t care about a whole bunch of hundreds of unlawful immigrant criminals coming into our nation, doesn’t need us to have pets,” Vance stated. “It’s the craziest factor.”
Conservatives coalescing round Peanut comes days earlier than an election with no clear predicted winner and indications that Trump is dropping steam. Polling final week confirmed Trump eking forward of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, however a latest ballot in Iowa now offers Harris the slight edge within the sometimes pink state. Prediction markets traditionally favoring Trump to win the election have adopted the same change and now favor Harris. Fact Social mum or dad Trump Media and Know-how Group, which is taken into account a barometer of his probabilities of reelection, plummeted 41% over three days final week, wiping out $2.4 billion of Trump’s wealth.
The squirrel’s loss of life has additionally impressed the launch of Peanut-themed cryptocurrencies, together with the Solana-based Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) memecoin, which soared to a market capitalization of greater than $140 million final weekend.
What occurred to Peanut?
The state DEC took Peanut and a raccoon named Fred from Longo’s house Wednesday following complaints that the animals have been being doubtlessly saved unsafely and illegally. The DEC and Chemung County Division of Well being stated in a press release to CBS Information the 2 animals have been seized and euthanized with a view to take a look at for rabies. The squirrel bit one of many people concerned within the investigation, based on the assertion. The DEC didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
New York state legal guidelines mandate a license for these desirous to personal a wild animal. Longo discovered Peanut seven years in the past after the squirrel’s mom was hit by a automotive.
“Actually, this nonetheless form of feels surreal, that the state that I stay in truly focused me and took two of essentially the most beloved animals on this planet away, didn’t even quarantine them,” Longo advised the Related Press. “They took them from my home and simply killed them.”
The affirmation of Peanut’s loss of life resulted in an outpouring of help for Longo and his spouse, who in April 2023 based P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in April 2023. A GoFundMe raised greater than $160,000 to help the sanctuary.
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