Trump statement comparing Peanut the Squirrel, immigration is fabricated | Fact check

The claim: Image shows Trump statement comparing government action on 'executed' squirrel to efforts against illegal immigration

A Nov. 2 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows what at first glance appears to be a statement from Republican nominee Donald Trump’s presidential campaign comparing the death of a famous squirrel to a key issue in the election.

“New York authorities, under their terrible Governor, put more effort into finding an (sic) eliminating a squirrel, who was innocent by all accounts, than they do to control the unchecked illegal immigrants who have flooded into their state,” the purported statement reads in part.

It also claims the animal was "executed" and goes on to say that, had the squirrel been from Mexico, he would have received “a hotel room and a $500 gift card to Buddy Squirrel.”

The post was shared more than 200 times in two days. The image also circulated widely on X, formerly Twitter, and was shared to multiple platforms by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania.

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The image is a fabrication. A Trump campaign spokesperson said the statement is not real. There is no record of it on the website where the campaign would post such a statement.

'Fake statement' attributed to Trump campaign

An internet-famous squirrel named Peanut was seized Oct. 30 by state and local authorities in New York who received reports that he and a raccoon were being kept illegally and unsafely. Two days later, the agencies announced the animal bit a person involved in his apprehension and had been euthanized to test him for rabies, sparking a social media outcry that included posts from a New York congressman from the GOP, Republicans on a key House committee and billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk.

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While the Trump campaign also shared a post about the squirrel, it did not issue the statement attributed to it in the Facebook image that compares the animal's seizure and death to the ongoing immigration debate.

“It’s a fake statement,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, told USA TODAY.

There is no record of the purported statement on the section of the campaign’s website where it posts news releases or on its social media accounts.

The image appears to have been first shared Nov. 2 by an X user described in a bio as a “meme artisan” who shares “humorous-adjacent tweets.” That user could not be reached by USA TODAY. Many posts reference the squirrel or the fallout from the hoax statement, which duped a news outlet that wrongly presented as authentic.

The mention of a $500 gift card in the fabricated statement appears to reference a false claim previously debunked by USA TODAY that undocumented immigrants are being given debit cards with large sums of money on them.

USA TODAY also previously debunked false assertions that images show Trump posts urging retaliation against Israel if he is assassinated, saying his attempted assassins have a record of “0-2” and describing his meeting with a “Civil War soldier.”

USA TODAY reached out to the Pennsylvania GOP and to several social media users who shared the image but did not immediately receive responses.

Lead Stories and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Karoline Leavitt, Nov. 4, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Donald J. Trump, accessed Nov. 4, News

• Trump War Room, accessed Nov. 4, X account

• Donald J. Trump, accessed Nov. 4, Truth Social account

• Donald J. Trump, accessed Nov. 4, Rumble account

• @ING2Firebrand, Nov. 2, X post

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fabricated Trump statement compares squirrel, migration | Fact check