Eating the Cats

“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. Eatin...