An Iowa newspaper borrowed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s likeness for a cartoon depicting him as the object of racial slurs cast by his own prospective Republican supporters. The newspaper in question, the Quad-City Times, has since apologized for the depiction.
On June 21, the Quad-City Times published a political cartoon in its opinion section that included a depiction of Ramaswamy at a sparsely attended campaign rally—and with all three attendees shouting insults at him.
The cartoon depicts Ramaswamy speaking at his rally, saying “Hello my MAGA friends” in reference to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) campaign slogan. Trump used the MAGA slogan throughout his 2016 campaign and presidency, and the term MAGA has been used to describe conservatives of a similar political disposition to Trump. Ramaswamy has used the phrase “make America great again” in his campaign materials.
As the cartoon depiction of Ramaswamy opens his campaign rally, the scene depicts one of the three rally attendees shouting “Get me a slushee Apu!!!” at Ramaswamy, who is of Indian descent. The name “Apu” is likely a reference to an Indian immigrant character who owns a convenience store in the cartoon series “The Simpsons,” whereby the character has been criticized as a caricature of Indian immigrants to the United States.
Another of the rally attendees in the cartoon is depicted shouting “Muslim!!” at Ramaswamy, who is Hindu. The inaccurate religious reference may be a factual error by the artist—or a suggestion that Republican voters do not understand the distinction between the two religions.
The cartoon depicts a third rally attendee shouting “Show us your birth certificate!!!” in an apparent suggestion that Ramaswamy is not a natural-born citizen, as is constitutionally required for a candidate for president of the United States.
Ramaswamy rebuffed the cartoon depiction in a June 22 post on Twitter.
“It’s sad that this is how the MSM views Republicans. I’ve met with grassroots conservatives across America & never *once* experienced the kind of bigotry that I regularly see from the Left. Iowa’s [Quad City Times] absolutely has the right to print this, but it’s still shameful,” Ramaswamy wrote.
Newspaper Issues Apology
Tom Martin, the executive editor of the Quad City Times, announced on Friday that the publication had retracted the cartoon from its website and electronic editions, and apologized for the depiction.
“Racist and hateful ideas, words or images have no place in our publications, much less our society. It’s why we apologize today for letting such an image slip through our editorial process and into our opinion page Wednesday in the form of a political cartoon,” Martin said.
Martin added that the cartoon was intended “to criticize racist ideas and epithets” but was wrong for its use of “a phrase that is racist and insensitive to members of our Indian American community.” Martin extended the apology to Ramaswamy, the Indian American community, and the Quad City Times’ readership.
“Dividing and disparaging with any racist images or rhetoric does not fit that mission or our ideals as a local news company,” Martin added. “The oversight that allowed it to run is inexcusable, and we can and will do better. We are sorry.”
Ramaswamy responded to the apology statement in his own letter to the editor, accepting the apology and calling for the cartoonist to keep his job.
“I accept the apology, and let’s cordially move on,” Ramaswamy wrote. “I’d be happy to talk to the cartoonist offline, too—I’m empathetic to people who make mistakes once in awhile. Let’s not go further or see people get fired over it; the cartoonist should in no way be ‘canceled.’ We are all human. The apology is sufficient and well-received.”