It’s the Monday just before the 2024 presidential election and Republicans can’t stop talking about the state-sanctioned euthanasia of a squirrel named Peanut.
Popularly known by him More than 720,000 Instagram followers Like P’Nut, the small, charismatic rodent has become a right-wing martyr — as has its surviving, very muscular, often shirtless owner, Mark Longo, who also happens to be an OnlyFans model with a sizable gay following.
Despite the many freedoms that New Yorkers enjoy, it turns out that it is not legal to have a pet squirrel in New York. In one New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) during an attack on Longo’s property in Pine City, New York, Peanut reportedly bit an officer involved in the investigation. The squirrel and at least one other animal (a raccoon named Fred) were removed from the property and euthanized. What followed was a social media frenzy that gained ground, especially in right-wing circles, with conservatives rallying for the OnlyFans model and his late pet.
How can a forest rodent become a Republican? Did Peanut have to die? Why are Elon Musk and JD Vance talking about this dead animal? Are squirrels good pets? Why does this often naked man love this squirrel so much?
The more you discover about Peanut, the more questions arise. That said, here’s an attempt to parse the story of how a charming rodent somehow became the only thing Republicans were interested in less than 24 hours before Election Day.
Who was Peanut the Squirrel and why was he killed?
Social media has been paying special attention for quite some time conventionally attractive men with their pets. It is not separate from the whole phenomenon of men on dating apps posing with their dogs and cats. It wasn’t complicated: extremely fit guy + cute pet = lots of internet followers.
In a simpler era, before Peanut and its owner Mark Longo were conservative celebrities, one of my friends messaged me from Longo’s social media. It was a video of Longo, shirtless, hanging out with Peanut. The message, though unspoken, was clear: look at this man with his big muscles and his little squirrel (not a euphemism).
Other videos from Longo — wearing tight pants with squirrel, wearing small shorts with squirrel, show a bulge with squirrel – made it very clear that even though the TikTok account was called “Peanut the Squirrel,” it was his co-star who had the real appeal. Longo’s OnlyFans account: “Squirrel daddy,” seemed to confirm that the creator was using his and Peanut’s social media fame for lucrative filmed sex work — work that, to be clear, did not star Peanut.
As Longo and Peanut’s fame increased, no one questioned whether Longo’s ownership of Peanut was legal. According to Longo in interviews with the New York Post, he found Peanut as an orphan kit (the term for baby squirrels) seven years earlier and raised the small, charming rodent himself.
Unfortunately for Longo, the animal laws of New York State, where he and Peanut lived together, do not allow people to have squirrels as pets, whether orphaned or not. Longo and his partner also owned Fred the raccoon, another animal that should not be kept as a pet. In addition to Peanut and Fred, Longo and his partner opened P’Nuts Freedom Farman animal shelter in Pine City, in April 2023.
After filing numerous anonymous complaints about Longo’s animals (Longo has stated that he believes the complaints came from Internet activists), the New York Department of Environmental Conservation said it raided Longo’s home last week. According to official reports, Peanut bit one of the investigating officers during the inspection; The DEC, as per protocol, euthanized Peanut and Fred (the raccoon) and tested both animals for rabies.
The New York DEC said in a statement:
On October 30, DEC seized a raccoon and a squirrel that shared a home with people, potentially exposing people to rabies. In addition, a person involved in the investigation was bitten by the squirrel. To test for rabies, both animals were euthanized.
My colleague Keren Landman, a doctor and epidemiologist by training, pointed out that the measures may have been too aggressive. Longo had raised Peanut in his home more than seven years. If the squirrel was truly rabid, it would have had a short lifespan. The animal had also been captured, she pointed out, and could have had its blood tested without being killed.
In the aftermath of Peanut and Fred’s euthanasia, Longo has spoken extensively with the New York Post in exclusive interviews.
“They treated me like I was a terrorist. They treated this raid like I was a drug dealer.” Long told the Postexplaining that the raid lasted approximately five hours.
Longo also addressed the people who filed complaints against him, Peanut, Fred and his animal shelter. “To the group of people who called DEC: there is a special place in hell for you.” Longo added.
How did Peanut become a right-wing martyr?
Based on Peanut’s social media presence (created by Longo), there was no clear partisan message on Peanut’s accounts. The closest Peanut came to politics was celebrating the holidays no specific mention of Christmas. The same goes for Longo’s social media presence, where his adult content is described as “kinky” and a gay following.
But thanks to Longo’s interviews with the Post, which leans conservative, right-wing personalities have picked up his and Peanut’s story. Many cite Longo and Peanut as an example government overreach. Using AI, some conservatives like Elon Musk have turned Peanut into a right-wing meme, creating images like a phalanx of Peanuts ready for waror Peanut as a Jedi chipmunk (even though Peanut was a squirrel).
Peanut’s story about potentially unlawful euthanasia has become so popular with Republicans that vice presidential candidate JD Vance mentioned the small mammal in a few of his campaign speeches.
“Have you seen the videos of this squirrel? He’s a genius. Or he was.” Vance told a crowd in North Carolinaand assured them that his running mate was as excited about the squirrel’s death as he was.
“Is it really true that the Democrats killed the Elon Musk of squirrels?” Vance said, recalling a conversation he had with Trump.
The claim being made here is that the local New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which was responsible for Peanut’s death, is synonymous with the Democratic Party. How exactly is unclear. It is also unclear what the ‘Elon Musk of the squirrels’ even means. As Vance’s critics note, he and his cohort have shown more empathy for a small rodent considered a potential rabies risk than for immigrant families or human victims of police brutality.
Currently, Peanut has been transformed by the online right into a mascot to drum up engagement. Musk and right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong have both – perhaps facetiously – linked Peanut’s death to an eventual Republican victory, although the math on that remains reasonable”??? Gain.New York, where Peanut lived illegally, is an absolutely blue state. It is true, however, that killing an animal is an emotional topic for many across party lines, one that Musk likely remembers from the 2016 Harambe discourse. Trump said the zoo officials who shot the gorilla “had no choice.”)
Longo, for his part, has switched $180,000 in the wake of Peanut’s death, the funds he says will go to his animal shelter’s “mission.” Many of those donations reference the politics with which Peanut has become associated. It just goes to show that it pays to be in the middle of a culture war – even if it may be a little hollow for the big players.
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