Even former President Donald Trump is going nuts over the senseless killing of P’nut.
“I know Don’s fired up about P’nut the squirrel,” Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, told supporters Sunday about the furry Internet sensation euthanized last week by New York state officials.
“He was like, ‘You know, is it really the case that the Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels?’
“Have you seen the videos of this squirrel? He’s, like, a genius. Or he was,” the Ohio senator continued at a campaign rally in Sanford, North Carolina.
“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. It’s the craziest thing.”
News of P’nut’s death has been making headlines ever since the tiny creature and his pal, a raccoon named Fred, were seized by state Department of Environmental Conservation officials last Wednesday following anonymous complaints over rabies fears.
The 7-year-old gray rescue squirrel, who had amassed a hefty social media following, had been living at the P’nuts Freedom Farm — a 350-acre animal refuge set up by Mark and Daniela Longo near Elmira in upstate New York.
The DEC claimed the squirrel, who was known for being very docile, bit one of the investigators on the hand when he was confiscated from Longo’s home.
DEC officials later announced that P’nut and Fred had both been euthanized Friday — prompting furor from the community, local lawmakers and beyond.
The squirrel’s death sparked so much backlash that it prompted a state lawmaker to propose legislation to improve animal-rights statutes — calling the bill “Peanuts Law: Humane Animal Protection Act.”
A GoFundMe page has also been inundated with well over $158,000 in donations from fans in the days since.
