WASHINGTON, Nov 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - In the waning hours of a bitter US presidential campaign, it has come down to this: did Donald Trump pause his barnstorming of battleground states Saturday to blast New York's supposed execution of Peanut the squirrel?

In a presidential campaign marked by foreign meddling and disinformation, Trump's campaign resolutely denied the comment that had gone viral.

"It's a fake statement," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the New York Post.

The statement that appeared to have come from the Republican billionaire's campaign stemmed from actual events this week, when a pet squirrel with half a million followers on Instagram was seized from his owner and euthanized.

Peanut, star of the peanut_the_squirrel12 account, had delighted fans with his adorable exploits, such as nibbling on waffles and wearing tiny costumes.

But New York's Chemung County Department of Health and the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Friday that Peanut, along with a racoon living with owner Mark Longo, were possessed illegally and had been euthanized to test for rabies.

"New York authorities... put more effort into finding an 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 official-looking campaign statement said about Peanut being "executed" by New York authorities.

"If Peanut could have told them that he was from Mexico, they would have sent him on his way and given him a hotel room and a $500 gift card to Buddy Squirrel. Instead, he was taken from his family. Very sad, and a complete waste of resources!"

The Peanut controversy was amplified by Trump's top backer and the world's richest man, Elon Musk.

The tech tycoon announced to his 200 million followers on X: "Government overreach kidnapped an orphan squirrel and executed him" -- linking to a news story that showed a cuddly Peanut wearing a squirrel-sized cowboy hat.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.