Elon Musk makes the death of Peanut the squirrel a symbol of “government overreach”

The squirrel's death has brought together conservative forces, from Donald Trump to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to Musk, who has sharply criticized the DEC's actions. Musk posted on the weekend

“The government should not be allowed to enter your home and kill your pet! This is messed up,” Musk said in an X post on Saturday. “Even if it's illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet (which it shouldn't be), why kill PNut instead of just releasing him into the forest!?”

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said at a rally in Sanford, North Carolina on Sunday that his running mate, Trump, was “upset” over the squirrel's death. Republicans have previously tried to invoke sympathy for animals as a rallying cry against the government, spreading the false story that Haitian immigrants in Ohio eat dogs and cats.

“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,” Vance said. “This is the craziest thing.”

The conservatives coalescing around Peanut comes days before an election in which no clear winner is predicted and there are signs Trump is losing momentum. Polls last week showed Trump ahead of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but a recent poll in Iowa now gives Harris a slight lead in the typically red state. Prediction markets that historically favored Trump to win the election have made a similar shift and now favor Harris. Truth Social parent company Trump Media and Technology Group, seen as a barometer of his re-election chances, plunged 41% in three days last week, wiping out $2.4 billion of Trump's fortune.

The squirrel's death has also inspired the launch of peanut cryptocurrencies, including the Solana-based memecoin Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT), which reached a market cap of more than $140 million last weekend.

What happened to Peanut?

The state Department of Defense removed Peanut and a raccoon named Fred from Longo's home on Wednesday after complaints that the animals were potentially being kept unsafely and illegally. The DEC and Chemung County Health Department said in a statement to CBS News that the two animals were seized and euthanized to be tested for rabies. The squirrel bit one of the people involved in the investigation, the statement said. The DEC did not respond AssetsPlease comment.

New York State law requires a license for those wishing to own a wild animal. Longo found Peanut seven years ago after the squirrel's mother was hit by a car.

“Honestly, it still feels kind of surreal that the state I live in actually targeted me and took away two of the most beloved animals on this planet and didn't even quarantine them,” Longo said Associated Press. “They took her out of my house and just killed her.”

Confirmation of Peanut's death led to an outpouring of support for Longo and his wife, who founded P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in April 2023. A GoFundMe raised more than $160,000 to support the shelter.