Donald Trump has a curious relationship with dogs. Firstly, because he does not own one. This, in his position, is exceptional. Prior to his arrival in the White House in 2017, no US president since Theodore Roosevelt (who adopted a dozen) had the hubris to do without a dog. To name only the most recent, Joe Biden has walked Champ, Major and Commander (who was ousted from the White House in 2023, after 24 reported bites on staff, notably the Secret Service); Barack Obama pitched the ball to Bo and Sunny (two Portuguese Water Dogs). George W. Bush owned several Scotch Terriers, the best-known being Barney, and two English Springers. But Trump doesn't like dogs. He hated Chappy, his ex-wife Ivana's poodle, who returned the favor.
On the other hand, Trump never hesitates to use canine metaphors in his speeches. Until recently, these were all pejorative: Someone was “fired like a dog,” another “sweated like a dog.” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State organization killed by US Special Forces in 2019, “died like a dog.” But if you ignore all that, and Google “Trump dog,” an entirely different relationship between the statesman and animals emerges. The first instance was that phrase pronounced on September 10, during the debate with Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the White House, referring to Haitian immigrants in the small town of Springfield (Ohio): “They're eating the dogs… they're eating the cats… they're eating the pets of the people that live there.”
No matter if this was fake news, Trump is now making a point of appearing alongside our beloved companions. In fact, the very next day, he posted an AI-generated photo on his Instagram account showing him aboard Air Force One surrounded by a myriad of cats – and, in an eccentricity of artificial intelligence, ducks. A development that illustrates the extent to which the use of pets, even for a self-proclaimed “non-system” politician, has become an essential part of political communication.
Harris also has no four-legged friends at home. Not even a cat, despite persistent rumors. In 2021, current Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance described the Democrat as a “childless cat lady.” An old misogynistic expression aimed at discrediting women who engage in politics while claiming to defend family values.
‘Element of partisan differentiation'
But Harris found unexpected backing among cat owners: The eminently influential singer Taylor Swift announced her support on September 11 with a photo of herself with her cat. And she signed her explanatory text with an anything-but-innocent “Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.” A statement that made the Republican candidate break out shiver and on September 15, he immediately published on his platform, Truth Social, a terse, bold statement: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” which in turn generated a few statements in defense of the superstar, including those from novelist Stephen King (“I love Taylor Swift”) and actor Mark Hamill.
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