Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told Newsmax on Friday that a cartoon depicting him in the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Ledger is "abhorrent," "embarrassing," and "race-baiting."
The cartoon, published on Thursday, depicts Cameron in a red "MAGA" baseball cap saying in front of a camera in a church saying, "… And if I were governor in a pandemic, I'd just let you die!!" Behind him, Jesus Christ is depicted hanging from a cross with a microphone in one hand saying, "Cut!!"
Cameron, a Republican, said on "National Report" that the cartoon is "absolutely abhorrent, it's filth … it is absurd, and it is a shame and embarrassing for a large newspaper here in Kentucky to run that sort of trash."
Cameron said Herald-Leader cartoonist "Joel Pett has a history of doing this. When I ran for attorney general in 2019, he had a similar cartoon where he had [former President] Donald Trump in KKK garb and had me dragged behind Donald Trump. It's absolutely ridiculous. The Herald-Leader should be ashamed of itself and they should get rid of Joel Pett."
Cameron added: "There are conservatives all across Kentucky that are … just horrified that something like this would run in a newspaper. Not only is it race-baiting, it is also mocking Christians. You see the crucifixion occurring in the background, but as if it's some joke."
Cameron earlier wrote in a tweet: "Tell me you're a race baiter, a hater of Christians, and a mocker of faith, all in one cartoon..I present Joel Pett, Herald Leader, as exhibit A. He is nothing but a mouthpiece for the Democrat party. Shame on him and the Herald Leader for allowing this filth."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.