During the election campaign, Donald Trump and his supporters flooded the internet with pictures of cats. Why are the animals suddenly so important to them? It all started with a crude claim.
During the election campaign and elsewhere, Donald Trump never misses an opportunity to discredit migrants in the USA. The Republican also used this approach in the TV debate against Democrat Kamala Harris. In the exchange, Trump took up the claim of his running mate JD Vance that illegal immigrants from Haiti were stealing and eating pets in a city in the US state of Ohio.
“In Springfield, they eat the dogs, the people who came here, they eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there,” Trump insisted during the televised debate – without providing any evidence. At the same time, he and his supporters spread images of cats and ducks generated with artificial intelligence on social networks.
Flood of animals on the internet: Musk also joins in
Republican Senator Ted Cruz took up Vance’s claim and posted a photo of a cat on Platform X with the message: “Please vote for Trump so Haitian migrants don’t eat us.”
Running mate Vance followed up on X: “Over the past few weeks, my office has received many inquiries from Springfield residents reporting that their neighbors’ pets or animals in the area have been kidnapped by Haitian migrants. It is, of course, possible that all of these rumors turn out to be false.”
Even tech billionaire and X owner Musk couldn’t contain himself. He also joined in on the animal post and shared a picture of a chick and a cat on his platform with the call: “Save them.”
Donald Trump uses animal postings as election campaign strategy
Since then, various Republicans have been posting AI-generated cat images – including Trump on his mouthpiece Truth Social. In one image, he can be seen on a plane surrounded by cats and ducks. He also posted an image of a cat holding a machine gun and wearing a MAGA cap. MAGA stands for “Make America Great Again” and is Trump’s campaign slogan. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace posted an AI-generated image on X showing Trump with a cat under his arm and a goose next to him.
The issue of migration plays an important role in the election campaign. As US Vice President, Kamala Harris was responsible for the issue, among other things. Her opponent in the presidential election on November 5, former President Trump, has repeatedly attacked the 59-year-old on this issue and accused her of failure.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
