If there was a cause I didn’t expect the far right to take up this year, it was animal cruelty. Which is why I couldn’t stop reading senior reporter Kenny Torrella’s story about the surprising (at least to me) announcement top Trump administration officials recently made about a new “strike force” to tackle animal abuse.
But I shouldn’t have been surprised. The truth is that people in America across the political spectrum really do care about animal welfare. And conservatives have taken note, starting advocacy groups and drumming up support for the cause at flagship right-wing events. But how does cracking down on medical animal experimentation and dog fighting square with the MAGA agenda?
Kenny’s smart look at this new initiative — publicly spearheaded by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins — made me reconsider how an unexpected issue could unite hard-liners, from both sides.
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—Katherine Courage, deputy editor, Future Perfect
