Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday. 

I was watching a story on CNN last Thursday about rent going up across the nation. It’s not just going up $20 here and $30 there per month. There are increases across the nation from 35 percent to 54 percent. People can’t cope with that, especially low-income people. They don’t have excess money for rent. I personally don’t believe our current inflation is forcing landlords to jack up rental prices to these extremes. Are property taxes going up? Are adjustable mortgages going up? From recent studies, no.

When asked about the possibility of a recession, President Joe Biden, who lives rent-free in the White House, said he’s not worried about it. He better start worrying about it because he was elected to worry about it.

I was talking to fellow cartoonist Michael De Adder last week during the Herblock Award festivities about our readers and how most of the time we are preaching to the choir. I told him that after Biden was elected, some readers came down on me for the way I caricatured him, finding it too harsh. I laughed with Michael over how they were OK with me basically drawing Donald Trump as a mango fascist Oompa-Loompa over the past six years, but give Joe Biden a high forehead with very little hair on it and they howl. Yes, you do that.

My other colleague and Russian stooge Ted Rall claims he’s the only liberal cartoonist who’s criticized President Biden, First off, he’s echoing Russia’s talking points on Biden and he’s a lying lunatic. I’ve seen plenty of liberal cartoonists, who are on President Biden’s side on most things, criticize him on other issues. It’s the MAGAt cartoonists who’d never criticize Trump but go after President Biden for saying crazy things and his low approval ratings. That’s called hypocrisy.

I am not a Democrat. I’m a liberal independent. Sure, I vote Democrat and will never ever vote for a Republican again, but I’m not a partisan while most of my audience is. I know each time I hit Biden that the cartoon will get very few shares and likes on social media. If anything, it confuses my readers which means I should do this more often.

And the thing is, most of my readers don’t love Biden. They’re defensive of him because he’s what they got right now. On the end of the spectrum, there’s a cult for Donald Trump. Joe Biden does not have a cult. I guarantee that more Democrats are willing to criticize Biden than there are Republicans criticizing Trump.

So, when my editor at CNN picked this, I knew it wouldn’t go over well with my audience on social media. It has only received 11 shares far on Facebook while getting more comments. My editor believed in the cartoon and that we need to go after both sides when called for. And you know, I almost didn’t send the rough to my editor.

My friend Mike Peterson disagreed with the cartoon today on The Daily Cartoonist, but I’m fine with his criticism and I think it was more than fair.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site 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. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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