Whoops, There Goes Another One

Another editor complains that my political cartoons are too political

Remember when I wrote the blog about an email from an editor in Florida asking for more “balance” in my cartoons? I got another one, this time, from an editor in California.

He wrote:

We had hoped your feature would cover a wide variety of topics, but they seem to be focused on a few limited topics. Now that the election is over, we want to move on to something different other than criticisms of Republicans.
Do you have plans to focus on other topics? For example, our issue for this week is focused on Thanksgiving and shopping, and we couldn't find any panels from your service regarding these two topics.
(One suggestion: Since you e-mail one panel at a time, it would be helpful if your subject line had a more detailed description of the panel, so we don't have to spend time opening it to figure out what the subject is about.)

I replied:

Hi David,
I've attached a cartoon that's kinda generic on Thanksgiving with turkeys from 2016, but I typically don't do stuff like this anymore. I hope you can use it.
I'm very fortunate to have you as a client and for my cartoons to be in the Gazette. But I'm a liberal political cartoonist and according to the awards I've received, I'm a good one. I would be neglecting my job as a political cartoonist if I "moved on" from criticizing Republicans when they are trying to destroy our nation. 
The service I offer is for political cartoons. I'm sure I'll draw a turkey and a more specific Thanksgiving cartoon over the next nine days. I may even do a Black Friday cartoon, but they too will be political. 
I hate to lose you as a client but I understand if you want to move on to cartoons that are softer and not so political. 
Also, it shouldn't be a lot of work to open a file. I've never heard that complaint before. 
Best of luck,
Clay 
Political Cartoonist

This is the cartoon I sent him from 2016.

This is OK and it’s alright. It’s the kind of stuff editors love, but I don’t do a lot of these anymore. They bore me. I was still getting my legs at the time for not having to draw this kind of stuff when I was employed at a newspaper. They’ve gotten a little tougher.

Here are a few others I’ve drawn over the past few years.

From 2021.

This one is from 2023.

From 2021.

From 2020.

Also from 2020.

From 2021.

The editor may not like these two for Black Friday.

This one is from 2015.

And this one is from 2023.

But maybe he’ll like this one from 2014, so I just sent it to the editor.

I’m getting more and more notes like this from editors. They’re increasing over the years and I’ve already lost one client since the election. I expect to lose more. I watched a report tonight about Trumpers being more emboldened to display their Trumpism and stick in people’s faces. Jesse Watters on Fox News said the stigma of being a Trumper (poor White people) is over and there is a new stigma to being a non-Trumper. Fuck you, Jesse Watters. I’m not going anywhere, but I may be leaving some publications.

If Trumpers are more emboldened, that means they’ll be making more intimidating calls to their local papers demanding that they stop running anti-Trump cartoons.

But even with pressure and demands that I draw turkeys instead of Republicans (a lot of cartoonists have compared the two this week), I’m not going to stop what I’m doing. I’m not going to be a sell-out like The Morning Joe crew. This cartoonist doesn’t kiss ass.

I did NOT travel to all four Trump arraignments and BOTH political conventions only to come home and draw happy little trees. I’m going to remain a political cartoonist. I don’t draw Garfield.

The cartoon at the top of the blog wasn’t sent to my clients, at least not yet. For now, it’s for Substack. But that editor wanted me to “move on” from the election and draw a turkey cartoon, and that’s what he got.

Gobble gobble, motherfucker.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse with a voiceover:

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon at Claytoonz is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are currently eight copies and you can order yours signed by me, for $45.00. You can pay through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Knee-Deep In Mississippi: There are only eight copies left of my first book, published in 1997. These can be purchased for $40.00

Tip Jar: If you want to support the cartoonist, please donate through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com, Venmo to clay-jones-87, or snail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402