The Texas Republican Party has dragged a real elephant through its convention, sparking mockery online with some referencing a Simpsons episode.
Reporters covering the convention in Houston on Friday shared video on social media of an elephant, called Paige, walking near the press area wearing a feathered hat and a banner that read, “Unity Drives Victory.”
As the elephant was passing along, it peed on the convention floor in front of shocked spectators.
“Oh shoot,” one person can be heard saying in the video. Others couldn’t help but laugh as the elephant continued to pee as it walked forward.
Local Republicans had gathered at the George R. Brown Convention Center to elect party leaders and prepare for the November midterm elections. But all anyone was talking about online was Paige the elephant.
Videos of Paige relieving herself on the convention floor quickly went viral, especially given how eerily similar it was to an episode of the animated sitcom, The Simpsons.
“The Simpsons did it again,” one X user wrote along with a gif of an episode showing an elephant, the mascot of the Republican Party, marching through a GOP convention.
Banners hung from the stage of the fictional convention that read, “We want what’s worst for everyone” and “We’re just plain evil.”
“The Simpsons actually predicted this LMAO,” another X user wrote, citing the episode, “Bart Gets an Elephant,” which first aired in 1994.
In the episode, the elephant also walks through a Democratic convention, where the banners read, “We hate life and ourselves” and “We can’t govern!”
There’s been a long-running conspiracy theory that the creators of The Simpsons have predicted major events through episodes of the show, most notably the moment President Donald Trump rode down the escalator of Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election.
But the episode where Homer Simpson rode the escalator with Trump actually aired after the president’s big moment in 2015. The show did, however, predict Trump would become president in a 2000 episode titled, “Bart to the Future.”
Others on social media took the viral moment from the Houston convention to ridicule the Republican Party.
“Governor Abbott closed out his speech at the Texas GOP convention with a live elephant. It then peed on the floor as it left the room,” the Texas Democratic Party wrote on X. “The perfect metaphor for the Texas Republican Party.”
Others called the Republican Party a “joke” and said the elephant’s urination was “poetic justice.”
The Texas GOP, meanwhile, lightheartedly wrote on X, “Welcome Paige! Thanks for stopping by the State Convention! What a treat for our delegates and guests – it’s one they won’t ever forget!”
The Independent has reached out to the Texas GOP for comment.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term, gave a keynote speech at the convention. During his speech, he told thousands of delegates that Republicans would “demolish” Democrats in the midterm elections.
“Unity is going to drive victory this November, and no one does a better job than you all” at mobilizing voters, Abbott said, per The Texas Tribune.
“Together, we will demolish the Democrats. Together, we are going to win in November. Together, we are going to keep Texas, Texas,” he said.
Some people on X didn’t find Paige’s viral moment to be a laughing matter.
Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen wrote on X, “I know this is beside the point, but I have a profound, visceral hatred of anyone or anything that abuses animals, kills them for trophies, or uses them as props.
“There is no clearer indicator of someone’s values than how they treat animals. Parading an elephant through this room is such an apt reflection of today’s Texas GOP.”
Yashar Ali, a reporter who has contributed to HuffPost and New York Magazine, raised concerns about Paige’s well-being, given elephants’ sensitivity to smell and sound.
“Putting an elephant into a convention hall like this is torturing it beyond the full comprehension of any human being, because we do not possess the sensory capabilities elephants do,” Ali wrote on X.
Paige is part of the East Texas Elephant Experience in Cut and Shoot, Texas, the New York Post reported. She is nine feet tall and weighs about 8,600 pounds, according to the company’s website.
The East Texas Elephant Experience also provides educational programs across the U.S. and has participated in studies to “help better elephants in human care,” the website reads.
