We may be seeing the inklings of a return to civility in politics.
Political cartoonist Jeff Danziger withdrew a cartoon he penned that dipicted White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ caricature as hunched-over and homely in an improper fitting dress.
He issued this apology:
That particular cartoon is being withdrawn and re-drawn because it was felt that it indulged in body shaming, which I apologize for. So I am doing something else on Ivanka’s clothing line. I am no one to criticize anybody’s physiognomy.
The intention of the original cartoon was to poke fun at White House Advisor Ivanka Trump’s clothing label shutting down, but Danziger took a cheap shot of Sanders as well depicting her size and clothing style.
We expect political cartoons to poke fun at politicians, but demeaning a woman based on her body shape, size, and clothing is not funny.
At least Danziger came to his senses and withdrew the piece before it went to print in a Vermont newspaper. Ivanka Trump’s shuttered clothing line is still the butt of his newest cartoon, but at least he left out the sexism.
This is not the first time that Sanders’ appearance has been the subject of inappropriate jokes. Jim Carrey’s garish portrait and Cher’s photo tweet that Sanders looks like a “sister wife” have gone unretracted and unanswered.
In a democratic society with freedom of speech and healthy debate, the left has every right to criticize Sanders for the policies and administration she speaks for, but shouldn't launch ad hominem attacks trashing her for her looks.