Just days before the election, some accounts began positioning Peanut as the victim of an overreaching and unjust government. Others superimposed pictures of Peanut onto images of Trump, suggesting Trump would bring justice for the little creature and others “hard done by” the current system.

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Musk became a vocal advocate for Peanut, sharing AI-generated images of him as “Obi PNut Kenobi” (an enlightened, guiding figure for right-wing voters) on X, and even imploring people to “vote for Peanut” during his recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Meanwhile, J.D. Vance, now US vice president-elect, mentioned the squirrel during one of his pre-election speeches. “Have you seen the videos of this squirrel? He’s, like, a genius. Or he was,” Vance said in North Carolina on Monday. Vance also recounted a conversation with Trump in which the president-elect compared the conservation department to the Democratic Party.

“He was like, ‘is it really the case that the Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels?’” Vance said.

After Trump’s victory, social media was further inundated with Peanut memes, most of which referred to the Republican win as “justice” for the squirrel and conservatives alike. Or, as one X user wrote post-election, “at least Peanut did not die in vain”.

with AP

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