A general rule that has been almost consistently applied in politics is that a candidate’s children are off-limits, especially if they are minors.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s daughters Catherine and Caroline are 4 and 7 respectively. Ann Telnaes, a political cartoonist for The Washington Post, offered a cartoon that depicted Cruz as an organ-grinder and his daughters as monkeys dancing. (I will not publish the cartoon here at Caffeinated Thoughts)
She took to Twitter to defend her work tweeted the cartoon and said, “Ted Cruz uses his kids as political props.” She later said the girls were “fair game.”
“Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad — don’t start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well,” she tweeted.
So because he includes his girls in a political ad it’s now ok to mock them in a cartoon inferring that they are trained monkeys?
Liberal logic from a cartoonist who won the “Maggie Award” from Planned Parenthood in 2002 which is given by the abortion industry giant to journalists who push their agenda.
One of Cruz’s chief rivals in race for the GOP presidential nomination, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), expressed his disgust with the cartoon on Twitter.
Wash Post cartoon featuring @tedcruz’s children is disgusting. The Post saying the kids are “fair game” is even worse.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 23, 2015
The Washington Post removed the cartoon. “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,” editorial page editor Fred Hiatt wrote in a statement on the page where the cartoon was published online.
Telnaes has since removed all of her tweets on the subject as well.
Regardless of the ideology or party of the candidate the kids are not fair game. These girls did nothing to deserve the ire from this liberal cartoonist. This is not how we operate in a civil society.
