Joe Biden went after President Trump for being the first president in more than a century not to own any pets while in office.
The Democratic front-runner pointed out that it was “National Cat Day” on Twitter and wrote, “Some Americans celebrate #NationalCatDay, some celebrate #NationalDogDay — President Trump celebrates neither. It says a lot. It’s time we put a pet back in the White House.”
Some Americans celebrate #NationalCatDay, some celebrate #NationalDogDay — President Trump celebrates neither. It says a lot.
It’s time we put a pet back in the White House. pic.twitter.com/6za6FUocfh
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 29, 2019
Along with the tweet, Biden included a photo of his own dog, Major. The Bidens adopted the German Shepherd in November 2018 from the Delaware Humane Society. Major was 10 months old when the Bidens took him home.
Trump is the first president since William McKinley not to own a pet dog at some point during their time in the White House, though he did own a rooster. McKinley served as president from 1897 until his death in 1901 after developing gangrene from an assassination attempt.
In February, Trump broached the topic during a rally in El Paso, Texas. He said the idea of owning a pet dog would seem “phony.”
“You do love your dogs, don’t you?” Trump asked the crowd to cheers. “I wouldn’t mind having one, honestly, but I don’t have any time. How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?”
“I don’t know, I don’t feel good,” the president said. “Feels a little phony to me,” Trump said, noting that people have told him to get a dog because it would look good politically.
In May, Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump said that he just isn’t a dog guy.
“The reality is when somebody isn’t that into dogs, maybe it’s not the best thing for them to get one,” she said. “I certainly bring mine around enough, so they have some surrogate dogs come in from time to time.”
Some presidents ventured out of the realm of the usual canine companion.
Theodore Roosevelt’s pets included a bear named Jonathan Edwards, a pig named Maude, Josiah the badger, multiple guinea pigs, a one-legged rooster, and a hyena, among a menagerie of others.
William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, and Abraham Lincoln owned goats: Lincoln’s were named Nanny and Nanko. James Buchanan owned a pair of eagles, and Calvin Coolidge had a donkey named Ebenezer.
At about the time he was impeached, Andrew Johnson reportedly took solace in a group of White House mice, feeding and caring for them at night.
Despite not owning any pets, Trump released a photo of the dog on Monday that helped chase down the world’s most wanted terrorist, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Trump said he wanted it to visit the White House.
