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Eating the Cats

the phrase "Eating the cats" is displayed.
Eating the Cats (AI generated image)

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” (Donald Trump, 10 September 2024)

That’s the quote which went viral after a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. It is also a marvellous example of a meme and a meme icon, of intertextuality, and of othering, all of which we analyse in linguistics. So there, we are back on track of bringing more cats into linguistics.

Eating the Cats (AI generated image)

Meme and Meme Icon

When we are online, there is no way we have not come even across one meme. Now what is a meme? Let’s not bother with a complete definition of what a meme is right here because this is a blog post and not an academic research paper. Let’s just stick to a kind of description of a meme as “an image or a text or even musical theme used in a funny way” that is shared across a wide audience. People use one and the same image – well, most of the time it IS an image that gets shared – and put their own spin to it: They take the image, write their own caption, and post the image.

Now, with “Eating the cats” we have words and a sound bite both of which are taken up by people and used by them. On social media, there are many posts showing cats or dogs or both. When they hear Trump’s words, the animals react, say by jumping up or by running away or by opening their eyes wide and so on.

Variations to this pattern exist: cats who do not care when Trump says “dogs” but react when he mentions the cats; cats and dogs in vehicles leaving Springfield. There is also a different type of meme: people who pretend to eat their cats and dogs, cook them in huge pots, season them with salt and pepper or others, put them in the oven, and so on and so forth.

In our case here, it’s the words staying the same and the images that change. What’s unusual, though, is that we have an authorship and know exactly when the meme came into existence – because Trump said these things during his debate with Kamala Harris on Tuesday, 10 September 2024. ABC news shares the transcript online here https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-trump-presidential-debate-transcript/story?id=113560542

Cats are often found in memes, and so is Donald Trump. Riffs on Trump’s hair, skin tone, utterances, and so on have been done quite often. And when a meme itself becomes the basis of another meme, the original meme has become a meme icon. Cat memes featuring cats with Trump’s hairstyle came into existence quite a while ago and they keep appearing on a regular basis.

With “Eating the cats”, several meme-worthy symbols have come together: there’s cats, there’s Trump, there’s Springfield – which, as fans know, is where the Simpsons live – and Springfield features one of the original crazy cat ladies.

Eating the Cats (AI generated image)

Intertextuality

“Eating the Cats” is a wonderful example of intertextuality: From a live TV debate, the claim “In Springfield they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” has made it out of the TV studio into the wide world of media, has been picked up by a variety of people in various functions and professions, and is being used in songs, as voice overs in videos, in social media posts, and whatnot.

And people understand the reference regardless of whether the soundbite is used in full or just in part. How people interpret the example is a different matter. The soundbite and the meme has been used by both sides of the political divide in the US.

Othering

Othering means just that: making fellow people into others and in that way creating a divide between us and them. It’s like good vs bad, sort of. “The people that came in, they are eating the cats”. They – and that means the others – are doing unspeakable things, which creates a bad image reinforcing prejudice and strange beliefs. Othering has effectively been used by politicians in campaigns.

Seen from a critical discourse perspective, “they’re eating the pets of the people that live here” is a rhetoric that plays on people’s consideration of their pets as family members. And people’s view of animals has changed. We live together with animals in our home for our pleasure and treat them kindly The word “pet” means “an animal that is kept in the home as a companion and treated kindly” (definition in the Cambridge Dictionary) or “a domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility” (definition in the Merriam Webster dictionary). So there, a pet is a companion kept for pleasure. And it’s certainly not to be eaten, i.e. treated kindly and not kept for utility.

And second, pets are now seen as family members. There is even the term of “interspecies family”. We do no longer divide between “us humans” and “animals” but consider the human as part of the animal world, and animals are fellow creatures with sentience. Some animal advocates like Jackson Galaxy even suggest to use the term “guardian” instead of owner – because we do not own our cats or dogs but take care of them.

the phrase "Eating the cats" is displayed.
Eating the Cats (AI generated image)

All images were created with AI image generators. The prompt was “The president is holding a microphone in hand, singing passionately. Above him, in bold letters, the phrase “Eating the cats” is displayed. The audience consists entirely of cats, some sitting attentively, others playfully pawing at each other, all looking up at him with curious expressions. The scene is whimsical and surreal, mixing humor with an unexpected theme!” (as suggested by ChatGPT)

Eating the Cats (AI generated image)

OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Edith Podhovnik (October 26, 2024). Eating the Cats. Meow Factor. Retrieved February 15, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/12l0d


Edith Podhovnik

a linguist researching language #purrieties and #meowlogism-s •alumna of SwanseaUni • loves cats • writes about cats • author of the book "Purrieties of Language. How We Talk about Cats Online

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