Elon Musk turns Peanut the squirrel’s death into symbol of ‘government overreach’

The squirrel’s death has rallied conservative forces, from Donald Trump to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, to Musk, who have lambasted the DEC’s actions. Over the weekend, Musk posted on X several times about the incident, calling the DEC’s intervention a form of “government overreach.”

“The government should not be allowed to barge into your house and kill your pet! That’s messed up,” Musk said in an X post Saturday. “Even if it is illegal to have a pet squirrel (which it shouldn’t be), why kill PNut instead of simply releasing him into the forest!?”

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance said on Sunday at a rally in Sanford, North Carolina that running mate Trump was “fired up” about 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. “It’s the craziest thing.”

Conservatives coalescing around Peanut comes days before an election with no clear predicted winner and indications that Trump is losing steam. Polling last week showed Trump eking ahead of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but a recent poll in Iowa now gives Harris the slight edge in the typically red state. Prediction markets historically favoring Trump to win the election have followed a similar switch and now favor Harris. Truth Social parent Trump Media and Technology Group, which is considered a barometer of his chances of reelection, plummeted 41% over three days last week, wiping out $2.4 billion of Trump’s wealth.

The squirrel’s death has also inspired the launch of Peanut-themed cryptocurrencies, including the Solana-based Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) memecoin, which soared to a market capitalization of more than $140 million last weekend.

What happened to Peanut?

The state DEC took Peanut and a raccoon named Fred from Longo’s home Wednesday following complaints that the animals were being potentially kept unsafely and illegally.  The DEC and Chemung County Department of Health said in a statement to CBS News the two animals were seized and euthanized in order to test for rabies.  The squirrel bit one of the individuals involved in the investigation, according to the statement. The DEC did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

New York state laws mandate a license for those wanting to own a wild animal. Longo found Peanut seven years ago after the squirrel’s mother was hit by a car.

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

The confirmation of Peanut’s death resulted in an outpouring of support for Longo and his wife, who in April 2023 founded P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in April 2023. A GoFundMe raised more than $160,000 to support the sanctuary.