Cartoonist Dares to Mock Rashida Tlaib, Gets the Predictable Response

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As George Orwell might say, Rashida Tlaib is double-plus untouchable: she is not only a woman but a Muslim Arab. That means that anyone who dares to cross the line prohibiting criticism of anyone who is in one or more of the left’s protected victim groups gets an automatic reaction. That’s right: charges of racism, sexism, and “Islamophobia,” plus demands for his firing and public humiliation. The leftist attack dogs, however, went easy this week on political cartoonist Henry Payne: all he got were the racism and “Islamophobia” charges.

As of this writing on Tuesday afternoon, Payne is still listed as the Detroit News’ “auto columnist,” and described as “the Detroit News auto critic, a syndicated editorial cartoonist, and radio host.” He produced the cartoon making fun of Tlaib, however, not for the Detroit News, but for National Review, as the News’ editorial page editor, Nolan Finley, was anxious to remind the world. Right after noon on Friday, Finley wrote, “This cartoon did not run on a Detroit News platform. It was in the National Review. It was distributed by a syndicate that we aren’t associated with.”

That was apparently insufficient groveling, so Finley weighed in again just under two hours later, writing, “The editorial cartoon depicting Rep. Rashida Tlaib was distributed by @AndrewsMcMeelSyndicate. The @DetroitNews was not involved in its production or distribution and chose not to run it. The cartoonist works for The News in a different role, as an auto critic.”

What had Finley so nervous was actually rather innocuous as political cartoons go. Payne’s drawing depicts Tlaib sitting at her desk looking over at the smoking ruin of her pager and thinking: “Odd. My pager just exploded.”

Abraham Aiyash, a Democrat (what did you think?) who is currently the majority leader of the Michigan House of Representatives, was enraged and apparently unaware that Payne had not produced the cartoon for the Detroit News. Aiyash wrote, “Shame on the @detroitnews for allowing this racist, xenophobic vile cartoon on their platform. Pay attention to who condemns this. And then recognize the different standard Arab and Muslim politicians are held by.”

Shame on the @detroitnews for allowing this racist, xenophobic vile cartoon on their platform.

Pay attention to who condemns this. And then recognize the different standard Arab and Muslim politicians are held by. pic.twitter.com/nkDKon1mJH

— Abraham Aiyash (@AbrahamAiyash) September 20, 2024

Others, recognizing where the cartoon had actually run, demanded the usual groveling apologies. Failed Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-Fire Alarm) wrote, “Anti-Arab bigotry & Islamophobia must not be allowed to be normalized. Henry Payne and the National Review should apologize immediately to @RashidaTlaib for this offensive comic.” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud also posted the cartoon on X and commented, “Absolutely disgusting. Anti-Arab bigotry & Islamophobia have become normalized in our media. The National Review ran this dangerous cartoon of @RashidaTlaib. This garbage was created by Henry Payne with the @detroitnews. At what point will people call this out?”

Tlaib was grateful, responding to Hammoud, “Thank you, Mayor @AHammoudMI, for speaking up. Our community is already in so much pain right now.” Then she resorted to the left’s oft-used weapon of equating speech it dislikes with violence: “This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe. It’s disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism.”

The outrage traveled around the world. Pakistan’s Express Tribune reported Sunday that “US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has condemned a political cartoon published by the National Review that portrays her with an exploding pager, calling it racist and Islamophobic.” The Pakistani paper took care to point out that Tlaib “said the cartoon would incite further hate and violence against Arab and Muslim communities.”

Ironically, around the same time, the FBI’s hate crime statistics came out, showing that there is hardly any hate and violence against Arab and Muslim communities. All over the country, we are seeing Jewish students and supporters of Israel denounced, menaced, and physically attacked. There have not been such attacks against Muslims; nor should there be.

Nonetheless, the leftist establishment has gotten into the habit of referring to “antisemitism and Islamophobia” as if they were equivalent, and in the brouhaha over the Tlaib cartoon, we see how charges of “racism” and “Islamophobia” are weaponized against those who oppose jihad mass murder and Sharia oppression of women.

There is nothing “racist” or “Islamophobic” about Henry Payne’s cartoon. It doesn’t mention Tlaib’s race or her religion. It merely makes fun of her for her unapologetic and open support of the jihad against Israel, which allies her with jihad terror groups including Hizballah. For Tlaib and others like her, however, charging “racism” and “Islamophobia” is the all-purpose response to any criticism, no matter how mild that criticism may be. And why not? It always works.