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- New Hampshire GOP Senate nominee Don Bolduc repeated a hoax about children using litter boxes.
- "They lick themselves, they're cats," Bolduc said to a crowd at an event on Thursday, as per CNN.
- John Oliver debunked the hoax on "Last Week Tonight," calling Republicans "heartbreakingly stupid."
Weeks after comedian John Oliver called Republicans "heartbreakingly stupid" for perpetuating a lie about children using litter boxes at school, a GOP Senate nominee candidate repeated the hoax at an event in New Hampshire on Thursday, according to audio obtained by CNN.
While speaking to supporters in North Hampton, Don Bolduc — who is facing Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan — claimed that children are being told they can use litter boxes in school and are allowed to identify as cats or furries, the news outlet reported.
"Guess what? We have furries and fuzzies in classrooms," Bolduc said as the crowd laughed. "They lick themselves, they're cats. When they don't like something, they hiss. People walk down the hallway and jump out."
"They're putting litter boxes, right? Litter boxes for this," he added. "These are the same people that are concerned about spreading germs. Yet they let children lick themselves and then touch everything. And they're starting to lick each other."
CNN reported that Bolduc made similar comments earlier that day on a radio show.
On the October 16 episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver delved into Republicans' attacks on transgender rights, including GOP candidates who claim schools are allowing students who identify as furries — people interested in anthropomorphic animals, and often adopt fictitious "fursonas" — to use litterboxes at schools.
"If kids were using litter boxes in class, a state representative from Minnesota would not be the one breaking that news to you," Oliver said. "If a kid sh*t in a litterbox in first period, it would be the only thing anyone in that state was talking about by lunch. Minnesota would change its state motto to 'Minnesota: Y'know, the state where that kid sh*t in a litterbox.'"
Bolduc isn't the only Republican candidate to repeat the hoax, which has been disproven since 2021. In March, Sen. Bruce Bostelman, a Nebraskan Republican, apologized after claiming schools were accommodating children with litter boxes during a public, televised debate, according to The Associated Press.
The litter box conspiracy theory has become so pervasive that it has its own Wikipedia page. The claim reportedly originated in October 2021 in Prince Edward Island, Canada when rumors began circulating within the public school system about students identifying as cats and litter boxes placed in schools.
Bolduc is an Army veteran and a one-time election denier. Insider's Madison Hall reviewed congressional financial filings and found that Bolduc flouted a federal conflict-of-interest and transparency law by failing to submit details about his own finances in 2022.
Despite Bolduc winning his primary, polling from October 30 shows Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan favored to win the New Hampshire Senate race.
Representatives for Bolduc did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
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