When I started this cartoon, it was just a joke and creative license that the next World Cup will be held in Florida, but guess what. In 2026, the next World Cup will take place in Florida, at least part of the tournament anyway.
There have been a lot of protests against FIFA holding this year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation with a horrid record on human rights, whether it comes to women, LGBTQ+, migrants, etc. Qatar is an autocratic regime that also suppresses a free press. Part of FIFA’s excuse for holding the tournament there is that all the nations in the Persian Gulf region are like this.
Some of the teams competing are displaying protests on their uniforms which has outraged conservatives here in the USA because athletes shouldn’t protest for equality. To them, athletes should only speak their minds when sharing conspiracy theories about Covid and vaccines.
FIFA announced that any athlete wearing a “one love” armband will receive a yellow card which I think is a penalty of some sort in soccer, oops, football.
In 2026, the World Cup will take place in 16 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. One of those cities will be Miami and in case you’re a Republican, that’s in Florida.
The governor of Florida is working overtime to make his state an autocracy, and in case you’re a Republican, that’s a government run by one person. Ron DeSantis has fired elected officials. He personally re-drew congressional districts in his state. He’s personally picking and choosing what books are allowed in public schools. He has attempted to outlaw “wokeness,” which is an attack on free speech. He’s punishing corporations that don’t agree with him. He’s banned teaching Critical Race Theory in schools which has never been taught in public schools. He’s the champion of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He signed a law making it legal to hit Black Lives Matter protesters with your car. He’s deporting immigrants to sanctuary cities… from Texas.
Of course, DeSantis won’t be governor of Florida in 2026, unless he personally changes the state constitution which I wouldn’t put past him. The most horrifying outcome will be if he’s president in 2026.
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.
Did Ron DeSantis break the law when he transported migrants from Texas to Massachusetts?
A coyote is a person who smuggles human beings across the border from Mexico into the United States. They’re horrible vile people who ship human beings like cattle, will take all their money, lie to them, and often not deliver as they promised. Sometimes, a coyote’s victims will die during the smuggling. If our border was actually open as the fucknuts who watch Fox News like to say, then there wouldn’t be any coyotes because nobody would have to be smuggled.
If we actually had open borders, people would be walking right on through saying, “My, how lovely it is that these borders are open,” and we wouldn’t be finding 53 dead migrants packed in the back of a tractor-trailer in San Antonio. Those people were murdered by coyotes.
Florida’s governor has become a coyote. He smuggled immigrants across borders, state borders. He lied to them. He used them for a political payoff. He probably broke the law while doing so.
Florida has a fund of $12 million to transport migrants from out of the state. DeSantis used this money to transport migrants, but not out of the state of Florida. He smuggled them from Texas to Massachusetts. He plans to spend “every penny” of the $12 million on these stunts as he said it “hit the jackpot.”
DeSantis defends using state funds to transport migrants from Texas to Massachusetts saying, “Most of them are intending to come to Florida. Our view is you have to deal with it at the source.”
How does he know that “most” of them are intending to come to Florida? Is DeDumbass a mind reader? And, they can still go to Florida. Shipping them to Massachusetts is only a detour to where they want to go.
DeSantis, like most Republicans, is a liar.
DeSantis is copying the political stunt created by Texas’ Greg Abbott, which was also copy-catted by Arizona’s Doug Ducey. I expect more red states to start trafficking humans to blue cities, even if they don’t have a large immigration problem.
They claim this is to highlight the problem at our border with Mexico and the havoc immigration from south of the border is playing with our border states. But, that’s a lie.
Sure, there’s a heavy price and burden on border states from immigration, but it’s not the crisis Republicans make it out to be. And, in case you never looked at a map, Florida is not on the southern border. Florida is on the east coast and borders Georgia and Alabama and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida is closer to Cuba than it is to Mexico.
Florida has immigration issues from the Caribbean, but it’s not those immigrants DeSantis is screaming about or trying to make political hay from.
DeSantis is a racist and believes that trolling liberals by dumping immigrants from Venezuela in so-called sanctuary cities will play well with the racist base. He’s right. They love it. He got a standing ovation at a Republican fundraiser in Kansas, which I kinda expect to start deporting migrants from Texas to liberal states soon as well. It’s just too bad that DeSantis may have broken multiple laws with these political stunts.
These are stunts. When you don’t inform authorities at the destinations that you’re dropping off migrants, it’s a stunt. When you drop them off at the residence of the vice president, it’s a stunt. When you drop them off at a liberal vacation destination, it’s a stunt. When you lie to the migrants about housing, jobs, and even where they’re going, it’s a stunt. If you’re a Republican, everything you do is a stunt. Most actions by Republicans create problems, not solve them.
DeSantis probably broke the law by using state funds for his political stunt. Hopefully, there’s someone in Florida who can prosecute him for it because the state legislature will probably defend him despite writing the law that stipulates those funds can only be used to transport migrants from Florida. Unless somebody moved it recently, Texas is not in Florida.
It’s not just stealing taxpayer money for his personal trolling that DeSantis could be in trouble for. A Massachusetts state Representative, Dylan Fernandes, is calling for the Justice Department to investigate Florida’s number-one troll. Fernandes said, “We are requesting that the Department of Justice open an investigation to hold DeSantis & others accountable for these inhumane acts. Not only is it morally criminal, there are legal implications around fraud, kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, and human trafficking.”
Fernandes said he has spoken with U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins, adding that she was pushing for a Justice Department response.
Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based group that represents more than 30 of the migrants flown to Massachusetts, also called for a federal investigation into their relocations. The group wrote letters to the Rollins and Massachusetts Attorney General saying, “While we are working to protect our clients’ rights in immigration proceedings and exploring remedies for civil rights violations, we also strongly believe that criminal laws were broken by the perpetrators of this stunt. We therefore ask that you open a criminal investigation into this matter.”
These governors do not have the authority to transport migrants and dump them off in locations for political stunts. Do you know who drops immigrants off in locations without coordinating with the local government? Coyotes.
These stunts can be classified as “human trafficking.” It’s evil. DeSantis is a coyote and he’s proudly howling about it.
Music note: I didn’t listen to any music while drawing this because I was watching the Queen’s funeral.
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.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is busing migrants to New York City and Washington, D.C. These migrants entered the United States through the Texas border with Mexico. Greg Abbott is blaming President Joe Biden for “open borders” despite the fact that until recently, Biden’s border policy was the same as Donald Trump’s.
Abbott has sent over 9,000 migrants to New York City and Washington, DC since “Operation Lone Star” began. He said in an August 19 press release, “Busing migrants out of Texas is a way to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.”
And that press release was the only warning the sanctuary cities received, proving this isn’t about humanitarian relief or providing relief to Texas’ border communities. This is a political stunt for Abbott and he’s using human beings running for their lives as political props. While the migrants will certainly do better under NYC Mayor Eric Adams than under Greg Abbott, the use of refugees as pawns should be cited as a human rights violation.
Imagine you wanted to build your reputation through a political stunt, such as kicking puppies and stealing candy from babies. Who in the world would you be trying to appeal to with those horrible actions? Assholes. You’d be seeking the love and approval of assholes. This is exactly what Abbott is doing. He’s appealing to goons. How do you get assholes to like you? By becoming an asshole.
This is just how low the Republican Party has devolved. Republicans love this stunt by Abbott. It has several things they hate. Abbott blames Biden, so there’s one box checked. He’s getting rid of brown immigrants which checks another box. And, he’s sending them to liberal cities in the north. Check, checkity, checkity, check. The only way he could make a stronger appeal to the asshole demographic would be to bus woke vegetarian school teachers along with the cast of “A League of Their Own,” the TV series (it’s full of lesbians).
Another huge sign this is a stunt is the name, “Operation Lone Star,” which was chosen because “Operation Check out my Big Texas Penis” might have been slightly over the top and I believe “Operation Yee-Haw” has been used by now.
Another sign this is more of an asshole move than one of humanitarian relief is the fact Abbot didn’t give NYC or DC any warnings. Of course, not letting the liberal cities know thousands of migrants were coming until they arrived is another way to appeal to the asshole base. It’s really owning the libs, at the expense of migrants of course.
Sure, we all have a good time springing our kids on their grandparents now and then, especially after giving the toddlers Red Bulls, but you wouldn’t leave them there if grandma was going to eat them (my grandparents were worse. They made me watch Lawrence Welk). Here, Texas does not care about these migrants. They’re pawns to own the libs.
New York City and Washington, D.C. aren’t mad at the arrival of migrants because of who they are. They’re annoyed at the burden Texas is throwing on them. NYC and DC are already diverse places and they’ll be fine. Most of these migrants are amazing people, the kind of people you want in your neighborhood. Our diversity is our nation’s greatest strength which is something Republicans don’t understand.
But it’s still a dick move. Probably because Greg Abbott, like most Republican governors, is a dick.
Music note: I listened to The Eagles of Death Metal while drawing today’s cartoon.
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.
Presidential candidates often make promises they don’t live up to after elections. Take the capital of Israel for example.
For decades, U.S. presidential candidates promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. embassy to the holy city from Tel Aviv. But reality would arrive after they were sworn in and they’d ignore the promise. Most nations don’t recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel since the Palestinians also claim it. While there are multiple resolutions from the United Nations, the European Union, and organized middle east nations, most of them come down to stating the designation of the city hasn’t been resolved, so no recognition. It would take a real dumbass to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move our embassy there as it’d be a huge obstacle to ever bringing peace between Israel and Palestine. Donald Trump is a huge dumbass. While he kept a campaign promise others did not, he made it clear that the United States, while he was president (sic), didn’t care about the Palestinian people.
President Obama promised to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where we have detained accused terrorists without granting them rights like lawyers, trials, representation, etc, etc. It’s still unclear why Obama never shut that shit down. In fact, it’s still in operation today. We are still holding prisoners from 2001 who have never had a trial or even formal charges.
This brings us to President Biden’s 2020 campaign promise of refusing to meet with Mohammed Bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and his pledge to make that nation a “pariah.”
But reality makes not having diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia damn near impossible.
Biden ignored Saudi Arabia for the first year of his presidency. He wouldn’t take their phone calls. We still don’t have a confirmed ambassador to the nation. But, Saudi Arabia has been an ally to the U.S. for decades. We fought against Iraq together in the early 90s. Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Iran which puts them on the same side as Israel, who’s historically an enemy to every Arab state. They’re a huge customer of U.S. weapons which we hope they use against Iran. And then there’s the oil. Saudi Arabia sits on top of the world’s second-largest oil reserves (Venezuela is first) and they are the second-largest producer (we’re number one).
This is also a time when gas prices are high. They would probably come down if Saudi Arabia increases production, which Donald Trump encouraged them to decrease. See? We’re still repairing all the damage from Trump’s fuckery. And because of that, President Biden had to fist bump a murderer.
President Biden said he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” Then said he would visit the nation but not sit down with MBS. Then, he visited the nation, exchanged fist bumps with MBS, and sat down with him.
U.S. intelligence says Mohammed Bin Salman is directly responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist for the Washington Post and under the protection of the United States. He was butchered inside Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Turkey by men who directly work for MBS.
MBS says he’s innocent but it’s really hard to make that argument when the murder was committed inside his embassy. In addition to the murder, Saudi Arabia has a terrible record on human rights. While celebrating that women can now drive cars in the nation, they’re still holding public executions. On March 12 of this year, they held a public execution of 81 people.
When Biden gave the fist bump to MBS, he legitimized him. It was like that time Donald Trump saluted a North Korean general. President Biden didn’t just give legitimacy to Saudi Arabia but also to MBS personally. They sat together under a giant portrait of the king, but the king was nowhere to be seen. Saudi Arabia is MBS’ nation. It’s under his control. So, nobody gets murdered in a Saudi Arabian embassy without MBS giving the order. Biden gave that guy a fist bump. Giving a fist bump says “you’re cool.”
Fred Ryan, the publisher of The Washington Post, which employed Khashoggi, called the exchange “shameful,” and a “display of “intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiance tweeted from his account, “Hey @POTUS, Is this the accountability you promised for my murder?”
Biden claimed he brought up the topic of Khashoggi’s murder to MBS, saying, “I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I thought of it now.” Biden claimed“He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it, and he took action against those who were responsible.”
That may not be on the same level as Donald Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin saying the Russian leader told it wasn’t Russia who meddled in the 2016 election and, “I don’t see any reason why it would be,” but it’s close.
The lasting damage of this is to President Biden’s word. He says he’ll make Russia a pariah and he’s done a good job of doing that, but Vladimir Putin also knows it’s a promise Biden can break. Putin controls a large nation sitting on a lot of oil too.
Between Donald Trump “falling in love” with Kim Jong Un and President Biden fist-bumping Mohammed Bin Salman, I’m tired of American presidents cozying up to murderers.
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.
Saudi Arabia is attempting to repair its reputation with the world after decades of bloody human rights violations. The future king of the nation, Mohammed bin Salman, is directly responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national who was a journalist for The Washington Post and under U.S. protection. So, what’s the best way for a nation with decades of human rights violations to make friends with the rest of the planet again? Stop abusing human rights? Of course not. No, the best way is to engage in sports. Saudi Arabia is “sportwashing” its reputation.
The oil-rich kingdom has bought an English Premier League soccer team, Newcastle United. They built a new race track in Jeddah and now have the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a Formula One racing event. World Wrestling Entertainment has been holding pay-per-view events in Saudi Arabia, even allowing the kingdom to decide if women can perform and if they do, how they dress. And, now the kingdom has golf.
A lot of people are upset over Saudi Arabia becoming involved in international sports. Mostly, they’re upset that so many people have a price to look away from human rights violations. The PGA is very upset over the new golf league, though their anger is probably less about human rights and more about competition.
The PGA has banned golfers who choose to play for LIV. That didn’t stop golf legend Greg Norman from becoming LIV’s CEO.
Another golf legend, Phil Mickelson, criticized Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and called the Saudis “scary motherfuckers to be involved with.” They are so scary that it takes about $200 million to get over that fear. That’s the reported contract Mickelson signed to join LIV golf.
Mickelson said, “I don’t condone human rights violations. I don’t know how else I can be any more clear.” Ooh, ooh, ooh…I know! You could be more clear that you don’t condone human rights violations by NOT taking blood money from Saudi Arabia. But maybe I just don’t understand golf.
Even though I don’t understand golf that well, I do understand that you don’t go into business with people who take a bone saw and dismember their critics. I try not to go into business with scary motherfuckers. I have the same policy of not going into business with Trumpers. I’m still owed over $2,000 the last time I did that (though I went into that agreement not realizing they were MAGAts).
It’s no surprise that Vince McMahon, the founder of the WWE and creator of Wrestlemania has a price to overlook human rights violations. I mean, this guy has been making billions for decades in an industry that sends his performers to early graves. Seriously, wrestlers have a habit of dying before 60. And it’s no surprise that Donald Trump has a price to ignore human rights violations. He displayed that when he was gooning up the White House and hosted MBS in the Oval Office. And since the PGA does have somewhat of a conscience and has pulled out of holding tournaments at Trump’s crappy golf resorts over his racism and insurrections, he has no problem taking LIV’s blood money to host a tournament at Doral.
You’re probably familiar with Trump National Doral in Miami by its catchphrase, “Ask us about our bedbugs.” That resort has been in financial decline for years. In 2019, it was reported that its operating income had fallen by 69 percent. Being the grifter he is, Trump tried to host the G7 Summit at Doral. Trump’s name is about as enticing as the opportunity to sleep with bedbugs.
Grifting runs in the family. After four years of making excuses for Saudi Arabia’s murders and helping them procure arms deals with the U.S, Jared Kushner has been given $2 billion as an “investment” from the Saudis. Now, his wife’s father gets his kickback from the Saudi government.
Normally, the only way Trump can pump cash into Doral is by holding campaign events, funded by the Trump Campaign, which is funded by his supporters. Before you label Trump as a genius grifter, keep in mind that the people he’s grifting are morons. Doral is also the home for the $10,000 portrait of Trump he bought for himself with money from the Trump charity.
How much is Trump being paid by MBS to host one of their crappy golf tournaments at Club Itchy-n-Scratchy (I bet you a MyPillow none of the Saudi royals actually spend the night at Doral)? I don’t know yet but don’t make a mistake about it. This is a bribe. And, it’s a legal bribe. The Saudi monarchs are paying Trump off for all he did for them while he was president (sic). His first foreign trip as “president” was to Saudi Arabia. Remember the sword dance and Trump with and the royals next to the creepy glowing globe?
Saudi money goes a long way. You saw how easy it was for Phil Mickelson to go from “scary mothers” to “pay me.” Now even President Biden, pressured by oil prices, has gone from promising to make Saudi Arabia a pariah to planning a visit to the nation where he’ll probably sit down for a chat with Captain Bonesaw himself, Mohammed bin Salman.
Don’t expect Saudi Arabia to comply with basic human rights any time soon.
Music Note: This one took a while to draw so I had time to listen to music. I listened to a lot of Foo Fighters because I discovered their B-sides and demos, which I haven’t listened to in about two decades because they’ve been hard to find, are now on Apple Music.
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.
Alexander Lukashenko is Europe’s last dictator. He’s been president of Belarus (in case you’re a Republican, that’s in Europe) since 1994. Instead of having free elections, his nation has the the kind of strongman system favored by Donald Trump, Republicans, and MAGA terrorists. Belarus is a former Soviet satellite nation, yet maintains Soviet symbolism. Lukashenko may be hornier for Russia than Donald Trump and Republicans are.
Belarus also does not have a free press or the rights to oppose the president’s administration. Belarus is very much a wet dream for Donald Trump. Sorry if you were eating lunch when you read “Trump” with “wet dream.”
Over the weekend, Roman Protasevich, a high-profile opposition journalist to Lukashenko’s administration, was flying to Lithuania from Greece (which is also in Europe, Republicans). Unfortunately for the dissident who’s been living in exile since 2019, the flight went over Belarusian airspace. Even as the tray tables were being ordered back into the upright positions and the seat belt sign was on in preparation for the landing in Lithuania (in case you’re a Republican, that’s another country in Europe), the plane was forced to turn around.
A Belarusian fighter jet approached the jetliner and informed it there was a bomb threat on board. That was a lie. They ordered the plane to fly to Minsk (in case you’re a Republican, is in Belarus), even though its scheduled destination was actually closer. After the plane landed, five of the 126 passengers were detained. One of those was Protasevich. The other was his girlfriend (in case you’re a Republican, a girlfriend is a girl…you know, those things whose bodies you want to legislate but you yourselves can’t touch).
Passengers on the flight later told the media, not in Belarus, that Roman Protasevich was terrified throughout the entire ordeal, and thought the plane being ordered to turn around and land in Belarus was about all him. Sheesh, paranoid much? But as Kurt Cobain sang, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you.” They were after Protasevich.
Last year, Protasevich created a Telegram account that helped organize a protest against Lukashenko. Telegram is a social media app, like TikTok and Instragram, that’s popular in Europe and with Russian hookers who’ll pee on you in a Moscow hotel room for a fair price. After the mass protests, Protasevich was classified as a terrorist by the KBG. Those are the initials for Belarus’ secret intelligence agency. I told you they were horny for Soviets. Here’s a fun fact: In Belarus, only about 10 percent of the population speak Belarusian. The majority of Belarusians speak Russian.
After being captured and kidnapped, Protasevich appeared in a state-TV video explaining he had been a bad boy and is now cooperating with investigations into the protests he helped organize. He appears in the video with bruises on his face and perhaps even a broken nose. It’s reminiscent of those propaganda videos Saddam Hussein released of visibly-beaten captured UK and U.S. pilots where they confessed to committing crimes against Iraq and how their own governments were evil.
The European Union is protesting, working to prevent all air traffic in the continent from flying over Belarus, and preventing Belarusian aircraft from landing in other European nations. It sounds like Lukashenko is boxed in, but he’s not. He has one person on his side.
I’ll give you two guesses who that person is: Donald Trump took his side over U.S. intelligence and his name rhymes with “Schmootin.” In case you’re a Republican, it’s Putin.
We need to support the E.U. in this fight. Democracy is important everywhere. You can’t have a democracy without the right to protest. You don’t have the right to protest without a free press. It’s important to fight for this in other nations because there are too many people in this country who wants to kill our democracy.
There are people in this nation who want laws forbidding the press from criticizing their cult leader. Those people deny an election happened. Those people lie about democracy and accuse others of election fraud. Those people are changing election laws based on lies about election fraud. Those people attacked the Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. trying to overturn an election. There are people in Congress who support those terrorists and don’t want their attack investigated. Before they attacked, their cult leader held a rally and encouraged them to go the Capitol and overturn the election.
The people who still support Trump, his terrorists, and his lies, want us to be more like Belarus. Belarus is a horrible place. It’s probably worse than Indiana. Don’t go to Belarus.
Democracy should be supported. We should have a free press, even when the press reports things you don’t want to hear. We should have the right to protest, even if protesters say thing you don’t want to hear. We should have legitimate elections where everyone eligible is allowed to vote, even if they don’t vote for whom you want to win. This is what’s so difficult for Republicans to understand. You don’t just support democracy until it doesn’t give you the results you wanted. You don’t just support democracy when it’s convenient for you. It’s not just about you.
If Donald Trump and his MAGA goons have their way, they’ll adopt a little Belarusian and tell us, “навошта закопваць галаву ў пясок, калі замест гэтага можна было« схавацца ў бульбу?”
In English, that’s “why ‘bury your head in the sand’ when you could ‘hide in potatoes’ instead?”
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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403. 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: I have Three copies of my book in stock, which I’m selling 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 9103, Fredericksburg, VA 22403.
You don’t hear a lot of news out of the nation of Brunei. Your average schmoe probably forgets it exists, if he even knew it in the first place.
Brunei is tiny and on the other side of the world. The population is only 430,000 people, which is fewer than the number living in Miami or Virginia Beach. Brunei actually owns a cattle farm in Australia that’s larger than Brunei.
Brunei is on the north coast of the island of Borneo, which is also occupied by portions of Malaysia and Indonesia. It’s classified as a developed country and has the second highest Human Development Index among southeast Asian nations after Singapore. Wealthy from oil production, it’s ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita and is only one of two nations with public debt at zero percent of the national GDP. It’s an absolute monarchy ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who is also the prime minister. One of the richest men in the world, the Sultan is said to own the world’s largest home and the biggest collection of rare cars. This economic, industrialized powerhouse is governed by Sharia Law and starting this week, the punishment for gay sex between men is death by stoning.
Sharia is Islamic law based on the Quran and other writings, though interpretations can vary widely. A statement from the Sultan’s office says, “Sharia, apart from criminalizing and deterring acts that are against the teachings of Islam. also aims to educate, respect and protect the legitimate rights of all individuals, society or nationality of any faiths and race.” I guess under Brunei’s Sharia Law, sexual orientation isn’t a “legitimate” right.
Brunei hasn’t executed anyone since 1957, but they’re pretty excited by the stoning idea. It will also apply as punishment for extramarital sex, anal sex, abortion, rape and some forms of blasphemy or heresy, like ridiculing the Quran or insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Theft and some other crimes will be punished merely by chopping off hands and feet. While dude-on-dude sex is death by stoning, lesbian sex will “only” be punished with 40 lashes.
Celebrities like George Clooney, Elton John, and Ellen DeGeneres have called for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by Brunei, which includes the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and the Dorchester in London. There are also calls to boycott Shell as they’re in the oil production business with Brunei. Maybe Brunei can look for foreign investment elsewhere.
Chick-fil-A was denied from operating in airports this week in Buffalo and San Antonio over their anti-LGBTQ positions and support for hate groups. Conservatives are calling this religious discrimination, ignoring that Chick-fil-A has donated millions to groups that discriminate against gays and lesbians, such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and the Salvation Army, which it says “spread an anti-LGBTQ message,” and teach that homosexuality is a sin. It’s also given to Exodus International, which supports gay conversion therapy, and the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group. Conservatives argue that the SPLC’s hate group ratings can’t be trusted because they’re biased against hate groups.
Chick-fil-A’s president and CEO Dan Cathy stated on a radio show in 2012, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’ I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
Do you know where else they’re worried about God’s judgment on their nation? Brunei. With Buffalo and San Antonio not working out for the homophobic chicken people, perhaps they could tempt the Sultan with some new and exciting franchising opportunities.
Be Complicit
What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you.
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!
There are two certainties of the second summit with North Korea. Kim Jong Un will win the Dinner For Schmucks contest and Donald Trump will not bring up human rights abuses to the dictator.
North Korea’s dictator solidifies his power internationally by developing nuclear weapons, and internally by mass purges and executions. A study by a Seoul-based North Korean Strategy Center, led by a North Korean defector, says the communist regime has purged 421 people since Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011. They collected accounts by 14 North Korean elite group defectors, six North Korean officials in China, and five other defectors who witnessed executions. These accounts are just from people who have escaped North Korea, so the number of killed is surely higher than 421.
Kim had his brother murdered by poison in a Malaysian airport. One defecting witness says Kim executed eleven musicians with anti-aircraft guns in front of a crowd of 10,000 people in a stadium (this is why Nickelback never does North Korea stadium tours). He has killed senior officers in his own government, military and the ruling Korean Worker’s Party. He killed one for having a “bad attitude” and another for slouching in a meeting.
Former presidents condemned Kim’s brutal behavior. Our current president says he and Kim see “eye to eye.”
Like Kim, Trump doesn’t like anyone, not just challenging his authority, but challenging him in any manner whatsoever. After Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said it’s unlikely that North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons, Trump had a hissy fit, and office pools were created on how much longer Coats will last in the administration.
Why wouldn’t Trump want to copy the way Kim deals with his critics, rivals and, perceived threats? He already copies his style of propaganda. Trump lies about the weather. His natural orangeness comes from good genes. He’s 6 foot three. The White House manipulates his photos so his waist is slimmer and his hands are larger. He’s even speculated on the presidency being a lifetime job.
Trump has warned there could be violence if he’s impeached (which is telling his supporters to start something if he’s impeached). He wants news outlets regulated so they don’t report his lies. He wondered aloud why there isn’t retribution for the way he’s treated by Alec Baldwin’s impersonation on Saturday Night Live. He’s floated innuendoes about how his former attorney/fixer Michael Cohen’s family might be punished if he testifies before Congress. What’s his attitude going to be like when he comes back from a love summit with Kim Jong Un?
Trump doesn’t like dogs, probably because dogs don’t like assholes and phonies (dogs are smarter and have better senses than his sycophants). But after hearing that Kim Jong Un has conducted executions by having dogs rip the victims apart, Trump might reconsider.
Most people would rather hang out with dogs than the likes of Donald Trump. Donald Trump would rather hang out with a dictator.
Be Complicit
What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you.
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!
Last week during a trip to Texas for a photo-op at a detention center holding migrant children the Trump administration separated from their parents, Melania Trump wore her now infamous “I REALLY DON’T CARE. DO U?” jacket.
Melania’s spokesperson issued a statement that the First Lady wasn’t sending a message despite the fact there was a literal message on the jacket. Then, the president undercut Melania’s team by saying it was a message to the “lying” media, and that Melania doesn’t care what they say.
Whether Melania was sending a message to the media, her husband, or on the issue, “I really don’t care” sums up the Trump administrations’ attitude toward human rights. In fact, the United States pulled out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission last week citing the abysmal human rights records of many of its members. Now, on the issue of human rights, the U.S. is becoming a pariah throughout the world…and in fine dining establishments in the Washington Beltway.
After lying to the nation that there was not a policy separating migrant families, Homeland Security Director Kirstjen Nielsen was booed out of a Washington Mexican restaurant. A few days earlier, the architect of the racist policy, White House adviser Stephen Miller was also heckled at a Mexican restaurant. Inflicting lifelong trauma on migrant children must make one acquire a hankering for tacos. If Hillary was elected, these ghouls wouldn’t need to hunt down Mexican restaurants as there’d be a taco truck on every corner.
White House spokesgoon Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia over the weekend. One of the owners said Sanders works in an “inhumane and unethical” administration. That point was proven on the ethics part after Sanders used her government Twitter account to smear the establishment. Sander wrote, “I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so,” which is a lie. It’s not with respect when she lies to the nation and insults members of the media for asking questions she refuses to answer, like saying some sentences are too big for Jim Acosta at CNN.
Sanders was upset about being kicked out because she works for Trump, which highlights why she was kicked out. She doesn’t work for Trump. She works for you and me. We pay her, Trump doesn’t. How does she do the job we’re paying her for? She lies and supports an administration that is tearing our nation apart.
Trump jumped in to smear the restaurant Monday morning with a tweet of his own. The guy can’t say anything slightly critical of dictators, but he’s one step away from writing Yelp reviews. Not only did the president’s spokesperson attack a private business because of a personal grudge, so did the president of the United States. Kids in cages and baby prisons aren’t nearly as upsetting as Sarah not being able to get a churro.
Trump’s supporters, white Christians who claim they’re the most persecuted people ever in the existence of the Earth, attacked the Red Hen by writing nasty reviews online, forgetting the celebrations they recently had over an Indiana bakery being able to refuse to make gay wedding cakes.
A restaurant can’t refuse service based on religion, sexual orientation, or the color of your skin. But they can kick you out if they think you’re a jerk. Years ago, a restaurant asked O.J. Simpson to leave because they didn’t want to serve a man many people believe is a murderer. Recently, a court in New York ruled that a bar can refuse service to a man wearing a MAGA hat. The court said political viewpoints are not protected from discrimination.
I saw a cartoon recently of a maître d’ telling a couple, “I’m afraid we can’t allow two fat ugly bastards like you to have a window table.” Maybe some restaurants don’t want to be known for serving bastards who work in a racist, stupid, lying, corrupt administration.
Trump has taken this opportunity with the Red Hen to turn it into a red herring. He tweeted, “The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!”
I have the same rule toward politicians. If a politician has a ridiculous comb-over, fake spray tan, and can’t find a suit that fits thus looking like a jackass, then he’s probably a jackass.
Watch me draw.
Thank you for your support. Reader contributions really do help and are appreciated in a time of dwindling revenue for political cartoonists. You will also be supporting free speech and the First Amendment, and independent journalism while those in power are doing all they can to suppress it. You can also support by purchasing a signed print for $40.00. Just look at the right of this page and click the PayPal button, or you can email and make other arrangements. Thank you!
Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, visited a detention center in Texas last week and described the facility. He said, “What you have is cyclone fencing and fence posts that look like cages. They look like the way you would construct a dog kennel.”
Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department hit back, saying they don’t employ the use of cages, but use fenced barriers. Basically, they’re cages but they don’t want you to use the word “cage,” and especially not “dog cages.”
Though Merkley saw the cages, security wouldn’t let him, a United States Senator, enter the facility, and eventually the police were called to shoo him away.
A spokesperson for the Administration of Children and Families said Merkley wasn’t allowed in for security reasons and said, “No one who arrives unannounced at one of our shelters demanding access to the children in our care will be permitted, even those claiming to be U.S. Senators.”
Uh, he wasn’t just claiming to be a U.S. Senator. He is a U.S. Senator. On the video, he had to tell the security guard more than once he was a Senator, as the guy didn’t seem like he could comprehend the information.
The Justice Department doesn’t want surprise visits to these facilities, especially if cameras are brought along. They want advance notice so they can clean up the place. It’s kinda like when your landlord wants to come by, but you want a heads up so you can make sure your house doesn’t smell like you own seven cats. As it turns out, Merkley did send a request two days in advance of his visit. Senator Robert Menendez was denied visitation of a facility in California, despite sending a request nine days ahead.
The Senator was attempting to show the American people how the Trump policy of ripping children away from their parents actually looks. The Administration is giddy about arresting anyone for crossing the border illegally, and if children are brought along, they’ll be separated from their parents and crammed inside dog cages.
Trump tweeted blame at the Democrats for his administration stripping children from their parents, despite his party controlling the executive branch, the House, and the Senate. And for good measure, he said they support MS-13. I guess one lie in the tweet wasn’t enough.
The United Nations says the Trump policy violates human rights and is against international law. Nikki Haley fired back the U.N. is practicing hypocrisy by attacking the U.S. while ignoring human rights violations of other members. The condition Haley is suffering from is called whataboutism. It’s very contagious among Trump sycophants, so be careful out there.
The administration says this policy is to prevent illegal border crossings, but that’s a total lie. Many of these separations have occurred at border crossing stations with immigrants requesting asylum. That is not an illegal crossing.
While blaming Democrats for his policy of separating children from parents by saying they passed “bad legislation,” there are not any laws requiring that parents be separated from their children, and the practice was put in place by his administration. Jeff Sessions loves this kind of stuff. You know, because of the racism. He almost squeals when he talks about it. Chief of Staff John Kelly raised the idea of this policy, you know, because of the racism.
The New York Times found that over 700 children have been ripped from their parents over a period of six months. The American Civil Liberties Union says it’s accelerated, and that over 1,000 have been taken over the past five weeks.
The U.N. created a human rights treaty called Convention of the Rights of a Child, which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. Only one nation in the world has not ratified the treat. Do you wanna guess which nation that is?
Mitt Romney, who famously strapped the family dog to the roof his car in a crate for a road trip from Massachusetts to Ontario, says he’s more of an immigration hawk than Trump. Despite calling Trump a “conman” in 2016, he said he’ll easily be re-elected in 2020.
Trump’s record on human rights is just one of about 2,000 reasons why that can’t be allowed to happen.
Watch me draw.
Thank you for your support. Reader contributions really do help and are appreciated in a time of dwindling revenue for political cartoonists. You will also be supporting free speech and the First Amendment, and independent journalism while those in power are doing all they can to suppress it. You can also support by purchasing a signed print for $40.00. Just look at the right of this page and click the PayPal button, or you can email and make other arrangements. Thank you!
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