Just wanted to say something here, give my own dumbass analysis of all this.
I saw a lot of people ask how THIS is the thing that stuck in terms of long term damage to his rep, to the point that it's been going on for weeks and now the VP of the United States is calling him out for it. How he was able to get away with all the other bullshit in his career and have mainstream people buddy up to him. I think it should be pretty obvious that the reason it's sticking so hard is because it has absolutely nothing to do with politics.
Every clip of this guy saying deranged crap is brushed off by lots of mainstream outlets and people because there's always some sort of spin, some sort of defense they can repeat in mass. Being clipped out of context, being hyperbolic, being edgy, all these excuses fall flat on this controversy because there is absolutely no defense for what he's doing to his pets. They can't spin this whatsoever because it's an objectively evil thing and not at all related to his dumbass politics.
And he made this even worse for himself, he just keeps lying, deflecting, and downplaying the situation when there's obvious evidence everywhere. He's so used to just never admitting any fault that he's made the situation about a hundred times more discussed. It's like the whole piratesoftware thing. He's never had to be truthful about anything, because his audience doesn't care about that. And a lot of people on his political side just believed him because why would they listen to criticism from their opposition about this dude?
And he may have his fans that will follow him regardless of anything he does. But I think it's safe to say that his reputation to normies, the general public, and even moderate lefties is completely in the gutter now. When he eventually retires from streaming, THIS is what he'll be remembered for. The asshole who abused his dog, like how Alinity is only remembered for throwing her cat. Honestly, a well deserved legacy, probably better than what he deserves considering his other antics, but still.
Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox now. Just wanted to share my analysis on the whole thing.