You’ve probably heard about Donald Trump’s massive faux pas in ranting and raving about Haitian migrants eating domestic dogs and cats and ducks during the recent Trump/Harris debate. His allegations were unfounded. The evidence is probably local residents in Springfield and/or Canton, Ohio making allegedly false allegations about the 20,000 Haitian immigrants that have moved into their area. The locals are aggrieved and have been posting stuff on social media which went viral and which Trump grabbed with both hands because he’s very much against illegal immigration although there are no reports that the Haitian immigrants are illegal.
Anyway, as mentioned there was an avalanche of criticism and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have done their presidential campaign no good at all so in order to try and repair the damage, Trump, on his Truth Social website (his version of Twitter/X from which he was banned at one time) has posted funny cat pictures.
These are AI generated pictures perhaps using DALLE. In one there is a ginger tabby cat holding a sign reading “KAMALA HATES ME,”.
You can see that the image was created by artificial intelligence because the writing at the base of the placard is gobbledygook. Currently, the techie nerds have failed to ensure that AI can create images with accurate writing. It tends to produce gobbledygook even though you give the software clear instructions. Obviously it was able to create “Kamala Hates Me,”. But the software inserted a comma where it shouldn’t have and messed up the bottom of the placard.
And in a second AI-generated image there is a series of kittens holding up another sign which reads “Don’t Let Them Eat Us, Vote for Trump!”
That, as you can see, is a reference to the recent debacle about patient migrants eating cats in Ohio. He is having a laugh about it to, as mentioned, try and defuse the situation. In effect he is backtracking in a subtle way and admitting that his allegations on mainstream television are probably false.
I’ve said before that he is a very poor decision-maker. I will say it again. He had the choice to refer to that migrant story or not during the debate. He didn’t have to talk about it. He made the decision to go in with all guns blazing and make what appears to be false allegations of a nasty kind because what he said risks aggression towards Haitian migrants in Springfield and Canton Ohio.
Misleading image
The top picture stating that “KAMALA HATES ME” is also highly misleading. Why did he request that artificial intelligence put those words on that placard? Kamala likes animals. She is an “animal champion” according to the reports. She doesn’t hate cats to the best of my knowledge. Or dogs or any other animal. So this placard is misleading. Donald Trump is digging a hole for himself.
Kamala Harris’ is an animal champion, wild and domestic
My research, using AI incidentally, tells me that Kamala Harris has demonstrated a consistent commitment to animal welfare throughout her political career and life. She has supported numerous initiatives that promote the humane treatment of animals and protect wildlife. Here some examples:
As California Attorney General from 2011 to 2017 she played a role in enforcing California’s Proposition 2, a landmark animal welfare law passed in 2008. It required that certain farm animals have enough space to turn around, stretch their limbs and lie down et cetera. The law phased out the use of battery cages for hens. She defended this law.
As attorney general, Kamala Harris supported a ban on the sale of ivory and rhinoceros horn in California. This helps to combat wildlife trafficking and protect endangered species. She also defended California’s 2004 ban on the production and sale of foie gras.
As US Senator during 2017-2021 Harris co-sponsored the Humane Cosmetic Act. Its aim was to end animal testing for cosmetics in the United States.
Also as US Senator she supported legislation aimed at regulating and shutting down abusive puppy mills. The phrase “puppy mills” also applies to kittens. She likes cats! She likes dogs!
She also supported wildlife protection through the SAFE Act. This act sought to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and export. And she was also vocal about the need to protect endangered species.
As Vice President she has continued to support policies in line with her prior record including climate and biodiversity. Biden has focused on addressing climate change which obviously ties into animal welfare.
With respect to personal commitment to animal welfare, although hardly publicised, Harris has shared information that she grew up with pets and has a strong personal connection with animals. During this presidential campaign she adopted a rescue dog named Charlie, a Beagle-mix. In adopting a rescue animal you can see quite clearly that she supports animal welfare.
Her track record is pretty impressive on animal welfare which reflects her broader values of justice, equity and protection of vulnerable populations.. She has supported and defended animal protection laws. Her record shows that she believes in the humane treatment of animals and people.
Trump’s record on animal welfare
Donald Trump’s record on animal welfare is more mixed compared to that of Kamala Harris. He has shown limited focus on animal welfare advocacy both personally and politically. He did sign the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law but under his administration he faced widespread criticism for weakening protections under the Endangered Species Act. His administration rolled back provisions of this act making it easier for businesses to undertake development projects in areas that could affect endangered species.
His administration also overturned an Obama-era ban on importing trophies from big-game hunters from certain African countries. This was a controversial move which was heavily criticised by animal advocates. Although to be fair Trump has expressed a personal dislike for trophy hunting despite the fact that his sons engage in sport hunting in Africa as you can see quite clearly from photographs of them holding up a dead leopard that they had shot in Africa.
Trump has described trophy hunting as a quotes horror show”. He is right but didn’t do much about stopping it did he?
Further, under his presidency he supported controversial plans to reduce the population of wild horses on public lands such as sterilisation and selling horses but some people feared it could lead to slaughter. The measures were opposed by animal advocates.
And Donald Trump is well known for his disbelief of climate change. He promotes the economy (a good thing) at the expense of damaging the environment and as a consequence his broader environmental policies indirectly affect animal welfare particular wildlife.
He rolled back over a hundred environmental regulations including those aimed at reducing pollution, protecting water sources and curbing emissions. All of these indirectly or directly affect wildlife and ecosystems negatively.
Regarding Donald Trump’s views on pets and lifestyle, he has never been known for a personal attachment animals or pets. He was the first US president in over a hundred years to not have a companion animal in the White House.
Further, under Trump’s administration the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service allowed controversial changes to protections for bears and wolves by reintroducing hunting methods in Alaska that allowed hunters to kill hibernating bears and wolf pups in dens. These were considered inhumane changes and destructive to wildlife conservation efforts.
And further, under his presidency, protections for marine animals were reduced by opening up previously protected areas of the ocean for oil and gas drilling.
Overall, his animal welfare record is poor and he’s been criticised for it.
As a consequence, his funny cat pictures look decidedly unfunny, misleading and once again he looks stupid.
P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.
