The Washington Post crossed the line recently when it depicted presidential hopeful Ted Cruz’s daughters as monkeys. In the picture, drawn by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes, Cruz is shown in a Santa suit with a music box that reads, “Cruz 2016.” Attached to the box are two small monkeys in Christmas suits.
The cartoon is a direct swipe at Cruz for his parody Christmas ad in which he is reading “Christmas classics” to his wife and daughters. Classics like, “How Obamacare Stole Christmas.” Politico reports that Telnaes tweeted Tuesday, Dec. 22:
“Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad- don’t start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well.”
Her tweet was no doubt in response to this tweet from Cruz:
What the Washington Post did to Caroline Cruz, seven-years-old, and Catherine Cruz, four-years-old, is truly f*cked up. With that said, Ted Cruz has every right to be pissed, but so do I.
You see, this is pure GOLD to Cruz. The amount of well-wishers and donations that he will receive is going to be astronomical. I would even expect his numbers to rise in the polls. As I write this, CNN is reporting that Cruz’s campaign:
“…sent out an email with the cartoon to supporters seeking emergency donations after the controversy. His goal? To raise one-million dollars off the controversy.”
So the Washington Post goes after a candidate’s children and creates a controversy that will only help his cause. Even more disturbing is the fact that Cruz’s campaign is using the tasteless cartoon of his children to gain money. It’s bad enough that we are fighting these guys from taking over the White House, but giving them free publicity, sympathy, and positive airtime is just idiotic. So yeah, I’m outraged at the whole situation.
The only smart thing that has happened in regards to this debacle, is that the Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt retracted the cartoon and replaced it with this editor’s note:
“It’s generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree.”
Look, editors are human and make mistakes, but the damage is done. Let’s just hope the children stay out of this mess and that Cruz’s benefit is held to a minimum.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIuMMkwURBo&w=853&h=480]
