Racism, lies and cat memes: American politics in 2024

An Ohio town is thrown into chaos from bomb threats that stem from racist lies. Immigrants across the United States are demonized for political gain. Women are dying from a lack of access to reproductive care. Donald Trump promises to jail his enemies. And on the internet, the cat memes proliferate.

For some reason, in the current presidential campaign, cats have played an outsized role in the political conversation. From Trump’s morals to “childless cat ladies” to unfounded rumours of their consumption by Haitian immigrants in Springfield, there’s something strange going on right meow in America.

Igor Bobic is a senior HuffPost reporter covering Congress, the White House, and political campaigns.

“On the surface level, it is absurd, right? Why are we talking about cats? But underneath, there is this issue of gender, and that’s the role gender plays in this election,” said Bobic. 

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