Every few years, there are viral animals that blow up on social media and have the rest of the world rooting for them. Rooting for what? I’m not too sure. But after someone caught a video of a short spine raccoon who looks a little funnier than most rodents, the footage went viral, he was nicknamed Jimothy, and a meme was born.
So far so good, right? Well, maybe not. Because the White House quickly jumped on the Jimothy bandwagon and posted about him on X (formerly Twitter). Some critics didn’t love the White House using the Jimothy meme for the purpose of furthering Donald Trump’s agenda. And then, people speculated on what kind of politics the raccoon would have, if he could.
The White House just had to insert itself in the Jimothy trend.
Jimothy spotted on the way to Washington D.C.‼️ pic.twitter.com/LSs4YFl2dq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 23, 2026
After Jimothy went viral, whoever is behind the White House account on X felt the need to edit a photo of the raccoon with a MAGA hat on. The hat says “Trump was right about everything.” It’s one of many mantras that MAGA has laid claim to since Trump began his second term in office. The post says, “Jimothy spotted on the way to Washington D.C.”
In the Bigfoot-style photo, you see Jimothy scurrying through the street with the hat edited on him. In other instances, it might be funny, but to some, it’s another way for MAGA to get its claws on something in pop culture and claim it, in a way. Maybe it’s not that deep. According to some, though, it kind of is.
“Official government accounts posting fake images to champion their leaders,” one user commented, before naming countries like Russia and Iran. They added, “Look who joined the pathetic alliance.”
Another user commented, “Oh f–k you, ruining something so pure.”
“Who the F is running this account, a 12-year-old?” Someone else wrote in the comments under the X post, “Who posts this garbage from the official White House account? Our lives have become an episode of Saturday Night Live, and the American people are the punchline. What exactly was Trump right about? The only thing he’s been successful at is making himself and his billionaire friends richer while working Americans pay the price.”
People think Jimothy would be against MAGA if he could be.
Jimothy is an animal and, therefore, impervious to the political qualms of humans in the world. Consider yourself extremely lucky, Jimothy. But if he could vote one way, according to users on a Reddit post about the White House’s Jimothy post, the raccoon would not side with Trump. There was even some debate about what animals might believe if they were given the opportunity to understand MAGA and those against MAGA.
“While Jimothy is adorable, he’s also a wild animal and thus anti-capitalist by his very nature,” one Reddit user wrote.
However, another person responded, “I think wild animals are DEFINITELY capitalist. They will consume all the food available to them (which is why you have to carefully regulate food to them in captivity), can be very territorial, and compete for resources like mates very commonly.”
Mostly, though, people are in agreement that the White House should just stay out of matters of viral characters.
Jimothy the raccoon became famous on social media.
Jimothy, the local icon of Seattle, Wash., became famous overnight after a user shared a video of the interesting looking raccoon on social media. The internet quickly took hold of the character and some people even posted videos they believe to be of Jimothy when he was younger and smaller in the same Seattle area.
The attraction to the raccoon is its stature, which includes long arms and legs, but a shorter and rounder body than most raccoons. According to ABC News, Jimothy has short-spine syndrome, which means his spine developed in a shortened way. It’s a condition that other animals can be afflicted with, including dogs. But none really hold a candle to the internet’s favorite raccoon.
READ NEXT: White House Shares Tribute To Harambe & People Have A Lot To Say About It
