Dead squirrel Peanut becomes a political issue in US election campaign

Pine City (New York) – What is 30 centimeters tall, weighs 400 grams and could become a factor in the US presidential election?

Squirrel Peanut becomes a political issue!

On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (DEC) seized the small rodent from a house in New York State and later euthanized it. Owner Mark Longo said he took in the orphaned squirrel seven years ago and shared his experiences with the tame rodent on Instagram. Half a million followers regularly watched Longo and Peanut cuddling or having breakfast together.

The authority said they had received reports of “possibly unsafe keeping of wild animals as pets that could have rabies” and therefore had to intervene. The squirrel was euthanized after it bit an employee. Likewise, a raccoon named Fred, who was also confiscated.

Trump mourns squirrels

The team and supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump (78) are now exploiting the tragic death of the rodents for the election campaign.

Trump is “burning” for the death of the squirrel, claimed his running mate JD Vance (40) at a campaign event in North Carolina. He had just spoken to Trump about the topic. “The same government that doesn’t care about hundreds of thousands of illegal, criminal immigrants doesn’t want us to have pets,” Vance fumed. “That’s crazy!”

And tech billionaire Elon Musk (53), one of Trump’s most important supporters, also sees Peanut’s death as a campaign issue.

On his social media platform X, Musk published a series of squirrel posts. “If they storm a house for a squirrel, they’ll damn well come after you too,” the billionaire remarked.

In another post he demanded: “Vote for Peanut! Choose independence! Choose freedom!”