US Elections 2024 | How the death of a celebrity squirrel became a Republican rallying cry

"I know Don is fired up about P'Nut the squirrel," JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, said at a rally in Sanford, North Carolina, on Sunday.

"Don," of course, was his running mate, Donald Trump, and P'Nut was an internet-famous squirrel who was seized and euthanized by New York state wildlife agents last week and -- because this is America in 2024 -- instantly beatified by some on the right as a martyr fallen on the altar of government overreach.

In the frantic last days of an election when candidates are scrabbling for any edge, the death of P'Nut (who also went by Peanut) has been pounced on by some Republicans as something of a fur-covered November surprise.

His fate, which he shared with his roommate in his owner's house, a raccoon named Fred, has become a talking point for candidates running for local office and all the way to the presidency. P'Nut's demise has been mourned by conservative talking heads on television and on sites such as the social network X, where Elon Musk lionized the rodent as a Jedi martyr -- more powerful in death than in life.

"RIP Peanut," read a post on a Trump campaign's official TikTok account Sunday. "Needlessly murdered by Democrat bureaucrats in New York." The accompanying slideshow included an image of Trump with what presumably is P'Nut's ghost resting a paw on his shoulder. "We will avenge you on Tuesday at the ballot box."

P'Nut's journey from cowboy-hat-wearing Instagram cutie to conservative lighting rod began Wednesday. That was when New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officers, responding to what the agency said were anonymous complaints, arrived at the home of his owner, Mark Longo in Pine City in Chemung County. In New York state, it is illegal to house animals considered wildlife without a special permit; Longo has said he was in the process of applying for one.

DEC agents seized the squirrel, which Longo had cared for ever since its mother was hit by a car seven years ago. Agents also apprehended Fred the raccoon. At some point, the squirrel bit a person involved with the investigation, according to a statement put out by the agency, leading its officers to swiftly euthanize both animals to test for rabies.

In tearful online posts, Longo and his wife, Daniela, railed against tax dollars being spent to kill the animals they considered pets. They lived among alpacas, horses and a bunny at P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, the animal rescue that P'Nut inspired the Longos to open. He also helped them earn income as pornographic performers on the website Only Fans, where Longo has said the squirrel's virality helped drive traffic. (Longo's handle on the site is "Squirrel Daddy.")

Seemingly no talking point was off-limits when it came to the squirrel. In Macon, Georgia, US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., spoke at a Trump rally and compared Peanut's fate to that of Laken Riley, a local woman who was killed by a Venezuelan man who had once lived in New York. She blamed Democrats in New York City, which is 200 miles from Pine City, for euthanizing P'Nut.

"Democrats in New York City went in and raided a home to kill a squirrel," Greene said. "Yet it was the same state of New York that let the criminal illegal alien go that came to Georgia that murdered our very own Laken Riley."

In contrast, Democrats have seemed to stay out of the P'Nut fray. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declined a request to comment, as did Vice President Kamala Harris, the presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, officials in New York have found themselves managing squirrel fallout: State police have dealt with at least 10 bomb threats in the past two days targeting DEC facilities, according to Beau Duffy, a spokesperson. Troopers swept each facility, he said, and no devices were found. The cases are still under investigation, Duffy said. On Monday, DEC employees were permitted to work at home for their safety, the Times Union reported.

In P'Nut's own congressional district, the Republican incumbent, Rep. Marc J. Molinaro, who is up for reelection Tuesday, used it as an opportunity to attack his rival, Josh Riley, and Democrats as a whole. "They'll invade and tear apart your home to seize a pet squirrel but look the other way as violent felons and terrorists cross our border and make themselves at home in our neighborhoods," Molinaro said in a statement.

In a statement, Mauranda Evans, a spokesperson for Josh Riley, who had nothing to do with the raid of Longo's house, urged voters to focus on the candidates' records, not the squirrel -- "with all due respect for Peanut," she said.

Perhaps lost in these battles is the fact that the animals' owner, Longo, 34, considers himself apolitical. He is not registered with any political party and said he has never voted in his life. He said he was mostly untroubled by the deaths of his pets having been co-opted by one party for purposes beyond his control.

"I am not knowledgeable on everybody's agenda, I don't know their policies, and there is a minor bit of me that is concerned," Longo said Monday, his voice growing emotional.

He has spent the past days grieving, he said, and when he found a stray almond that Peanut had sneaked into his pocket, he burst into tears. He was just grateful, he said, "that somebody is giving P'Nut a voice."

"I don't care if it was the blue side or the red side," he added. "Somebody on this planet is fighting for my animals."