Why social media is going nuts over a squirrel amid the U.S. elections

Social media users have expressed outrage following the death of an internet-famous squirrel who was euthanized by New York authorities on October 30, 2024. 

The squirrel, Peanut, and a raccoon, Fred, were the beloved pets of content creator Mark Longo until the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) took the pets following anonymous complaints of potentially unsafe housing for the animals, and concern over the potential for human exposure to rabies. Peanut bit an official who handled him, and the pets were euthanized to test for rabies. 

Peanut became a social media star after his caretaker posted videos of him to millions of followers across Instagram and TikTok. Longo and his wife cared for the squirrel for seven years after it was orphaned and founded an animal sanctuary, which they named P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in his honor. Longo said they were in the process of having him registered as an educational animal when he was seized. 

Longo said in a social media post that the raid on his home had taken more than five hours and the officers had used excessive force. A petition demanding the return of the animals had gained tens of thousands of signatures before the DCU announced the animals' fate. 

Logically Facts has contacted Mark Longo for comment.

Prominent figures, including X owner Elon Musk, have weighed in on the controversy. At a rally in Sanford, North Carolina, on Sunday, November 3, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, turned the squirrel's death into a campaign issue. He claimed that Trump had been "fired up" by it. 

We looked into some of the false claims that have gone viral on social media following Peanut's death. 

Fake statements attributed to Trump

A written statement attributed to Donald Trump about Peanut's death went viral on X and TikTok over the weekend. The statement includes a Trump Vance campaign letterhead dated November 2, 2024. The statement criticizes the decision to euthanize Peanut and compares the squirrel to illegal immigrants. 

It has been shared on social media with captions such as, "This is not fake. Real statement by @realDonaldTrump about $PNUT." However, the statement is confirmed to be fake.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told TMZ on November 2 that the statement was false and that Trump had not commented on the matter. 

The viral debunked statement incorrectly attributed to Trump (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts) 

The statement had been reported as genuine by media outlet Mediaite, which has since pulled the story and issued a retraction. "Mediaite erroneously reported on a fake image of a statement attributed to Donald Trump, which the campaign has since confirmed was not real," the retraction says. "Trump did not comment on the story in question nor did he or his campaign release any statements on it."

Another fake statement has emerged as a video address posted on X on November 2. In it, Trump appears to address voters on the Peanut controversy, stating, "There has never been a more perfect squirrel than Peanut" and "If Kamala Harris wins, which she won't, but if she does, you can expect even more of this. Your tax dollars funding police busting down your door and removing your furry friends like they're illegal immigrants." 

However, the video shows tell-tale signs of AI manipulation. Trump's mouth movements appear unnatural and do not match his words. And TrueMedia, an AI-detection tool, found substantial evidence of manipulation. Its analysis stated, "The overall tone and content suggest it is a fabricated or scripted piece intended for entertainment or satire."

At the time of writing, we had not found any official statements from Trump on the matter outside of JD Vance's comments at the North Carolina rally. 

Logically Facts has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.

Fake headlines attributed to The Atlantic 

Another fake headline went viral after Peanut's demise, this time purporting to be an op-ed from The Atlantic. It reads, "How a squirrel became a rallying cry for the far right," and has been shared on both X and TikTok. 

However, the article does not appear in The Atlantic's Ideas section. The byline in the screenshot also indicates the article was written by Ellen Lewis, but there isn't an Ellen Lewis writing for The Atlantic. A reporter named Helen Lewis works for the publication, and her published works do not include an article with the above headline. 

One of the accounts that reshared the headline has since admitted that it was a "meme."

A second screenshot allegedly showing a headline of an Atlantic article has also gone viral on X. The screenshot has The Atlantic logo on the top, and a headline reads, "Republicans are using tragedy to push their agenda once again." The article summary claims, "It's not the first time the Patriotic Front has used a sad but popular story to push their white supremacist agenda." The byline attributes the article to Tom Nichols, a staff writer at The Atlantic.  

However, the article does not appear anywhere on The Atlantic site. The differing typefaces on the screenshot also indicate that it may be altered. 

Fake screenshots of articles that have been attributed to The Atlantic. (Screenshot: X/Modified by Logically Facts) 

Logically Facts contacted Anna Bross, The Atlantic's senior vice president of communication. She confirmed that the headlines were fabricated. 

"No such articles have ever been published by The Atlantic," she told Logically Facts.

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.