Billionaire X owner Elon Musk has become one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest backers. Since Musk endorsed Trump in July, he has done everything he can to support his candidacy. Musk has donated more than $100 million to his US PAC supporting Trump; toured the swing state of Pennsylvania holding town halls; has spoken at Trump rallies in Butler, Pennsylvania, and New York City; hosted Trump for an interview at X; and put the full weight of the social media platform he owns behind Trump’s presidential candidacy.
But with just a few days left before the polls opened, Musk spent the weekend posting on X primarily about a squirrel.
Specifically, Peanut, an orphaned pet squirrel adopted by New York state resident Mark Longo. Longo’s videos with Peanut garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and Instagram. Longo had also adopted a raccoon named Fred. But on October 30, according to the Associated PressLocal government officials responded to anonymous complaints about the animals, and both were euthanized after the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) removed them from Longo’s home.
“On October 30, DEC confiscated a raccoon and a squirrel that shared residence with humans, creating the possibility of human exposure to rabies. Additionally, a person involved in the investigation was bitten by the squirrel,” the DEC said in a statement. “For rabies testing, both animals were euthanized.”
Longo posted about the incident on Instagram and it gained traction on social media over the weekend. A GoFundMe for Longo titled “Call for Justice for Peanut the Squirrel and NYSDEC Reform” has currently raised more than $150,000.
Musk seized on the story and posted or reposted about the incident on X at least 20 times between Saturday and Sunday, framing it as an example of government overreach, particularly by Democratic Party-led governments.
“The government should not be allowed to break into your home and kill your pet! “That’s a disaster,” Musk said. in a post which obtained 23.7 million views. “Even if it’s illegal to have a squirrel as a pet (which it shouldn’t be), why kill PNut instead of just releasing him into the woods!?” In another, which accumulated more than 35 million visits, he asked“why is the Democratic Party so cruel?”