Why is Elon Musk so obsessed with his pet squirrel?
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Ever since he started rooting for Donald Trump at rallies across the US, Elon Musk’s social media posts have become frequent and frenzied. But one cause in particular has recently caught the attention of the world’s richest man: the plight of Peanut the squirrel.
Over the weekend, the billionaire businessman tweeted nearly 20 times about the animal, saying its “killing” at the hands of New York officials was an example of “government overreach” and using that so-called “martyrdom” to push the charges of democratic authority. .
Peanut – also known by the aliases P’Nut or PNUT – was an orphaned squirrel who became a social media star after being adopted by Mark Longo in 2017. Along with the animal ‘ one of the rescues, Fred the racoon, was removed from Longo’s home on Wednesday by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The agency said it had received complaints that the wild animals were being kept illegally and that they may not be safe at home, and confirmed on Friday that Peanut and Fred had been released. I conducted a rabies test after a squirrel bit a research subject.
Before his death, tens of thousands of users on Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms had followed Peanut as he played with little hats, performed tricks and caught Waffles caught in his tiny juices.
“The government should not be allowed to enter your home to kill your pet! It’s broken,” Musk wrote on X on Saturday evening in response to his post, showing an AI-generated squirrel dressed as a Star Wars character. “Even if it’s a crime to own a squirrel it’s a domesticated animal (which it shouldn’t be), why would you kill a PNut instead of releasing it into the wild!?
He added: “Government villains kidnapped an orphaned squirrel and killed him…”
It is unclear why the billionaire is so obsessed with Peanut’s story in particular, despite being known for his love of memes and pop culture, as well as trolling others online. Since his death, Peanut has become something of a martyr for the MAGA web movement.
Musk himself has been using the story to push alarming allegations about the Democratic Party’s stance on other issues including gun laws, crime and the legacy media.
A meme posted above Musk’s X account — which has nearly 203 million followers — says “if they raid the house for a squirrel, they’ll come after you.”
In response to a post from a user, who said “a taxpayer-funded agency raiding a man’s home to kill his rescue animals is plain evil,” Musk tweeted “yes!” “Also, the media says you are very right if you care about the government killing pet squirrels…” he added.
In response to another post that said that democracies “seem to care more about squirrels than catching thieves and drug dealers,” Musk replied, incoherently, “it’s important to note that criminals vote Democrats in large numbers, because they are the party of easy crime.
“The Democratic Party is actually a party of criminals! It’s just a statement of fact. ”
Another meme, shared by a billionaire, appeared to mock Democrats’ stance on the Second Amendment and stricter gun control laws. “Support the right to bear arms!” he said.
“It is NOT OK for the government to come into your home and kill your pets!” Musk has written elsewhere. “What happened to the Land of the Free?” In a separate post, he added: “President @realDonaldTrump will save the squirrels … RIP P’Nut.”
Since the deaths of Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon, Longo vowed that the government’s decision “will not make sense,” but declined to specify his next steps.
New York state law requires people to obtain a permit if they wish to own a wild animal. Longo said he was working to get a peanut license as a study animal.
“Honestly, this kind of still makes sense, that the country I live in really killed me and took two of the most beloved animals on the planet, it didn’t spare them. They they took them from my house and killed them,” he said.
A request for comment was sent to the DEC on Saturday by Associated Press.
Longo said she started caring for Peanut after the animal’s mother was hit by a car in New York City seven years ago. Fred the raccoon was dropped off at his door a few months ago. After helping the animal recover from its injuries, Longo said, he and his wife planned to release the creature into the wild.
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