A Canadian cartoonist has been dismissed from his job after an illustration he made of President Trump went viral on social media.
The cartoon made by Michael de Adder showed the US President standing over the bodies of the two migrants who died recently while trying to cross the Rio Grande in south Texas.
The political-cartoon Adder posted on his Twitter on June 26 referred to the tragic death of 25-year-old Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter Angie Valeria.
Adder’s illustration also showed Donald Trump standing by the dead bodies of the father and daughter, as they lie face down in the muddy waters.
Standing adjacent to a golf cart and holding a golf club in his hand, the President is shown asking the dead bodies: ‘Do you mind if I play through?’
After the cartoon sparked outrage, the publishing firm Adder had been working with – Brunswick News Inc. in New Brunswick – ended their contract with him.
However, the company has claimed that his drawing wasn’t the reason behind his dismissal.
The news of Adder’s contract termination was made public by the artist himself in a post on Twitter. “The highs and lows of cartooning,” he said.
“Today I was just let go from all newspapers in New Brunswick.”
However, BNI has claimed that they hadn’t ended Adder’s freelance contract with them over the cartoon. “This is a false narrative which has emerged carelessly and recklessly on social media,” BNI said.
“In fact, BNI was not even offered this cartoon by Mr. de Adder.
“The decision to bring back reader favorite Greg Perry was made long before this cartoon, and negotiations had been ongoing for weeks.”
Taking to Twitter, Adder also said that he was ‘not a victim,’ and that the dismissal he had to face was ‘a setback not a deathblow.’
“I just need to recoup a percentage of my weekly income and get used to the idea I no longer have a voice in my home province,” he said.
President of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists, Wes Tyrell, said that firing an employee of 17 years certainly meant something. Tyrell claimed that Adder’s termination was the consequence of meddling with Trump – a ‘taboo subject’ for BNI.
In a lengthy statement posted on Facebook, Tyrell wrote: “Although he has stated there was no reason given for his firing, the timing was no coincidence.
“Michael de Adder has drawn many well-documented cartoons on Trump, they have however, systematically never been seen in the New Brunswick papers.
“De Adder’s Trump cartoons didn’t appear in the newspaper but they were viewed all across social media. His cartoon couldn’t be ignored.
“The trope of political figures golfing and showing disdain for issues has been seen before, but de Adder’s take hit a nerve. It went viral and social media stars like George Takei even shared it.
“For a brief period de Adder was the poster boy for the Anti-Trump movement.
“A good place to be if you’re a cartoonist, but a bad place to be if you work for a foreign oil company with business ties to the United States.”