Viral hippo Moo Deng 'predicted' Donald Trump would win 2024 US elections
It looks like the viral hippo from Thailand has a sixth sense!
Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippopotamus who became famous on the internet, is making headlines online for "predicting" that Republican leader Donald Trump would triumph in the 2024 US elections.
In the video that was posted by Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo on Nov. 4, two days before the election was held in the US, the four-month-old pygmy hippo was given the choice between two fruit cakes.
One had Trump's name carved onto it in Thai script while the other had the name of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
The clip then showed Moo Deng eating the fruit cake that spelled out Trump, while the bigger hippo in her enclosure—her mother Jonah—decided to go for the opposite and chose Harris.
"I chose Trump because...the dragon fruit pieces are bigger," Khao Kheow Open Zoo joked in the caption.
ใครได้เป็นประธานาธิบดีอเมริกา อีก 48 ชั่วโมง รู้กัน..
เด้งขอบคุณที่เคยโหวตให้นะคะ แต่ด้วยภารกิจโชว์ตัว พรีเซนเตอร์สินค้า เกือบ 70 ราย ทำให้ตอนนี้ยุ่งมาก ไม่มีเวลาเลย.. จึงขอสละสิทธิ์ แล้วกัน
โอกาส นี้เด้งขอทำนายทายเลือกให้ผู้ชนะ เป็นฝ่ายชาย ( ห้ามเดิมพัน เล่นการพนันเด็ดขาด… https://t.co/ZcPfmNvIkc pic.twitter.com/r8NsEbUmhM— สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว Khao Kheow Open Zoo (@KhaokheowZoo) November 4, 2024
But it turns out that Moo Deng's "prediction" was spot-on as Trump managed to reclaim the highest position in the US government after getting the 270 electoral votes he needed to beat Harris. He previously lost in 2020 against outgoing president Joe Biden.
Social media users had various reactions to the amusing turn of events.
"Petition for Donald Trump to make a trip to Thailand to visit Moo Deng after she predicted his presidential victory," one user suggested.
Another commented, "I never doubted her."
Others who opposed Trump and did not give him their vote, meanwhile, had less-than-pleasant things to say to Moo Deng.
"Preparing Moo Deng for a roast dinner when I catch her," one user posted.
Because of these, some had to remind others that the zoo animal had nothing to do with the results, "I really hope all of the 'let’s murder the baby hippo' stuff is a joke because the little creature doesn’t even know what America is let alone have any actual impact on the election."
Moo Deng became a popular Internet meme after images of her went viral online in September this year. Her being more playful and energetic than other hippos also contributed to her fame.