You would think the Italian government has better things to worry about.
As always, the cancel trolls are on the prowl, and this time targeting Donald Trump Jr. for his hunting trip in Venice, Italy – accusing him of killing a rare duck on protected land.
A video surfaced of Trump Jr. hunting ducks from a foxhole in a northern Italy lagoon. The video was originally posted on Field Ethos, an outdoor lifestyle brand that Don Jr. founded.
But before Field Ethos was able to remove the video, Italian news outlets had already picked it up and made sure to turn it into some international scandal. Personally, I thought the video was pretty cool, but check it out for yourself.
It’s pretty much a montage of his hunting crew in the Venice Lagoon shooting ducks. In one part, he is talking to the camera with some of the birds, saying that one of them is “a rather uncommon duck for the area.” This is what set the people off.
Allegedly, this “uncommon duck for the area” is what they call a ruddy shelduck. This duck “is a duck that is very rare in all of Europe and protected by the EU Birds Directive and by the Italian law on the protection of wild fauna … The killing or holding of this animal is punishable by law,” said a member of the Veneto regional assembly, Andrea Zanoni.
We don’t even know who shot the duck. For all we know, it was his buddy in the boat next to him. Or some stranger shot it and it was picked up by their dogs.
But Andrea Zanoni didn’t only care about the duck, he also was quick to file a legal complaint, alleging that Trump Jr. was hunting without a license. Zanoni insisted you have to be an Italian resident in order to legally hunt with a permit.
Trump Jr. and his team were quick to respond stating they had all the proper authorizations in order to be hunting in the private, legally sanctioned area. And they even had an Italian hunting expert confirm that foreigners are able to get a limited hunting license. He is definitely not the first American to hunt with this license in Italy.
But of course, this is not enough evidence and these Italians are demanding further investigations, ignoring the fact that they were not the only hunters out to shoot duck that day.
Some people are saying he should be sorry, while others are just tired of the immediate cancelling that is going around these days:
It’s a duck.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 4, 2025
*kills a duck*
"OUTRAGE" pic.twitter.com/AHdWhiS6Qc— Mario Lawrence (@mariolawrencejr) February 4, 2025
The horror! That’s all y’all could get on the man. An honest mistake. It’s embarrassing!
— Katie (@katieelton77) February 4, 2025
Doesn't sound like a US problem, so IDK why you're talking about it like we should care 🤷♂️
— Just me Billy (@JustxmexBilly) February 4, 2025
I get it – killing a rare duck, not cool. But honestly, I doubt that someone so high-profile that comes from such a controversial family (to say the least), would be careless enough to illegally go on a hunting trip, shoot a specific duck, and then post a video about it. There’s just no way anyone would have let that happen.
If anything, I am just super jealous that he got to hunt in Venice, Italy. I mean, come on.
So no telling if this is something that could actually get him in trouble, or if it is just a few really mad Italians who don’t have that much ammo against him. It seems a little far fetched to me, but I guess we will just have to see.
