The Washington Post pulled an editorial cartoon by cartoonist Ann Telnaes that depicted Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with his two young daughters as monkeys. Cruz, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, blasted the cartoon and the paper’s editorial page editor apologized.
The cartoon featured Cruz as an organ grinder, controlling two monkeys. Telnaes explained that the cartoon was meant to criticize cRuz for including his two daughters in a political ad. “Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad- don't start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well,” she tweeted.
Cruz wasn’t happy with the cartoon, writing, “Classy. @washingtonpost makes fun of my girls. Stick w/ attacking me--Caroline & Catherine are out of your league.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is one of Cruz’s rivals, then defended Cruz.
Post editor Fred Hiatt agreed that the cartoon should not have been published and it was pulled from the website. Hiatt wrote that it is against their policy to include children in their cartoons.
“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,” Hiatt wrote. “I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree.”
Despite criticizing the cartoon, NBC News notes that Cruz also used it to help raise money for his campaign. He called for an “emergency” fundraising effort to raise $1 million in a day.