In this post, I would like to describe what animals represent US political parties.

The symbol of the democratic party is the donkey. This began in 1828 when the Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was nicknamed "jackass". Jackson later used it in election poster because he was amused by the nickname.

The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant. It is commonly believed that the reason was the phrase from the times of the civil war 'to see an elephant' which meant to experience the battle. It was popularized by Thomas Nast, who portrayed the Party as an elephant in his cartoon 'Third Term Panic'. Nast is considered a precursor to political cartoons, who later also used the donkey as a symbol of the Democrats.

Today, the libertarian party is also trying to promote 'its animal' - the porcupine. They argue that porcupines, like libertarians, are not aggressive if their freedom is not violated. 

Source:

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-republican-and-democratic-parties-get-their-animal-symbols

https://www.dictionary.com/e/political-parties-animal-mascots/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/37848449