Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and now Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia may receive legal immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to isolate MBS and turn the man into an international pariah over his role in the murder of Khashoggi, which our national intelligence believes he ordered. As president, Biden has visited MBS in Saudi Arabia and gave the guy a fist bump. Now, instead of making the murderer a pariah, he’s legitimized him… and he still hasn’t helped us out with rising gas prices.
Donald Trump, who made excuses for MBS’s murder and has hosted his golf tournaments while his son-in-law, Jared, has been gifted $2 billion from the Crown Prince, is more likely to see the inside of an American prison before the Saudi ever will. Perhaps Trump is sympathetic toward MBS because he can relate to killing people. Because of Trump’s ineptitude, mismanagement, lies, downplaying, and politicizing of the coronavirus pandemic, tens of thousands of Americans died who shouldn’t have. There is blood on both of these men’s hands.
And while MBS is being shielded from an American lawsuit over the murder of Khashoggi, Trump will now be investigated by a Special Counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
I thought the appointment of a Special Counsel was a bad move until I saw Trump and Republicans’ reaction to it. Trump has called it “unfair” and says he won’t “partake” in it, at least not in the way he partakes with a KFC bucket.
Trump said, “For six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore.” The reason Trump has been “going through this” for six years is that he’s been a criminal for over six years. And guess what. He will be going through it again. And not “partake?” He barely partaked (partooked?) with the Mueller investigation and refused to sit down for an interview. I hope this Special Counsel doesn’t eat that bullshit and is tougher than Robert Mueller.
After “going through this” and being optimistic about the Mueller investigation, I’m going to withhold my enthusiasm for this one until I see something to be hopeful about.
Trump and his goons have been claiming all these investigations are political anyway, so I’d ignore all the noise they’re making now. Like MBS, Donald Trump is a criminal. Let’s at least make one of these bad guys receive justice.
Creative note: I’m leaving town tomorrow so I planned out my next three cartoons… and then Merrick Garland had to fuck all that up yesterday.
Music note: I listened to Zebra’s first album.
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.
It’s after 4:00 pm on a Sunday, a day most cartoonists don’t work, and I already wrote a blog on this subject, so you’re not getting much of one today. I have a dinner invitation to meet in 45 minutes and I’d like to make it. Enjoy the cartoon, but…
You wonder how Trump can sell out our country to Russia and Saudi Arabia and then you remember this is an asshole burying the mother of three of his five children at his golf course for a tax break. Keep in mind that he announced her passing in a fundraising email to his supporters. My ex-wife died, no. Not Melania, mother of my fifth kid. No, not Marla, mother of my fourth, Ivana, the mother of my first three, one of them being named Ivanka. I’m sad but a small donation to my super PAC would cheer me up.
When did this shit stop being weird?
I get the impression Trump is being cheap for burying her at Bedminster because he gets the tax break, doesn’t have to shell out for a burial plot, he already has a ground crew that has to cut the grass, and there’s not much of a marker for her grave. There’s just a plate in the ground with her name, birth date, and death date. The fucker couldn’t even shell out for a proper inscription. Even the flowers on the grave look like they were bought at 7/11. I have friends who’ve done more for their dog’s burial plot than Trump did for the mother of three of his kids.
And now, I’m going to start a rumor that Jimmy Hoffa is buried at Bedminster.
Creative note: I wrote this blog yesterday and was so quick to take a shower and make my appointment, that I forgot to click “publish.” Oops!
Music note: More Kaiser Chiefs plus The Killers.
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.
We’ve always known Donald Trump puts himself before anyone or anything else. Presidential oath be damned. Donald Trump only cares about Donald Trump.
Donald Trump will sell out everyone he knows. He will sell out his country. Sometimes he does it for power. Sometimes he does it for his ego. And sometimes, he does it for cash.
Trump tried to steal an election for power. Now, he’s selling out America and the victims of 9/11 for cash. Just how much are the Saudis paying Trump to host two of their golf tournaments?
The first Saudi golf tournament to be hosted by Trump is this weekend at his shitty golf course in New Jersey. The next will be at one of his shitty golf courses in Florida. There will be protests at both, but Trump doesn’t care to listen to the victims of 9/11. In fact, when asked about the Saudi connection to 9/11, Trump gaslighted, which in this case, is sportswashing.
Trump used to blame Saudi Arabia for 9/11. But yesterday, just 50 miles from the site of the World Trade Center, destroyed by two hijacked airplanes, of which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, Trump said, ““Nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately. And they should have, as to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to the country, to the world. So nobody’s really been there, but I can tell you that there are a lot of really great people that are out here today, and we’re gonna have a lot of fun, and we’re going to celebrate.”
What?
Trump is from New York City. He was in the city that day. Granted, he lied about being at 9/11 shortly after the attack to lend assistance, but he knows what happened.
Previously, Trump’s main focus from 9/11 was that the destruction of the twin towers might have made one of his buildings the tallest in Manhattan.
As for history lessons from Trump, he once talked about the airports during the American Revolution. He repeated Putin’s lie that Afghanistan invaded the Soviet Union in 1979, and not the other way around, which is the truth. And now, he’s lying for murderers and killers.
Donald Trump hasn’t just disrespected the survivors and families of 9/11. He’s trampling on our ideals and values. And just like every single golfer playing in LIV tournaments he’s ignoring that the money is coming from Mohammed bin Salman, the man who ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It runs in the family because Jared also ignored that while taking $2 billion from MBS.
Remember when we used to say “never forget” about 9/11? Donald Trump isn’t just forgetting. He’s making shit up. There are a lot of crazy fucknut conspiracies from Qanon about 9/11. Marjorie Taylor Greene once said it was a hoax. Trump is a big fan of conspiracy theories. His entire election steal was based on them. Now, he’s giving his “credibility” to the Qnuts and their 9/11 conspiracy theories.
I hope at some point during this weekend’s tournament for Saudi blood money that a gopher crawls up inside Trump’s pants leg and bites him in his tiny orange goober. I hate to wish that on the gopher, but he’d at least get some hush money not to tell the world that Trump’s penis looks like Toad from Mario Kart.
How did I end this blog on that note?
Music note: I listened to Alien Ant Farm, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Gorillaz while drawing this.
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.
I believe in this cartoon and I stand by it, but I’m a little uncomfortable with it. It’s important for me to call out the truth, and that is there are a lot of Democrats unhappy with Joe Biden. I’m uncomfortable giving them any support at this time, but mostly I’m uncomfortable that this cartoon is one a lot of MAGAts will love. Ugh. MAGAts.
The one thing I’m not cool with is that I know Biden isn’t going to push hard against the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi while in the presence of Mohammed bin Salman.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, then Candidate Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and refused once in office to speak with Mohammed, seeking to punish him with isolation. Now, he’s about to sit down for a chit-chat with the defacto ruler of Saudi Arabia and the man U.S. intelligence says ordered the hit on Khashoggi’s life.
Despite what Republicans are saying, Biden is not going to Saudi Arabia to ask them to sell us oil. We have plenty of oil here. What he’s going to push for is an increase in their production because despite what Republicans believe and think they know, gas prices are an international issue, not just domestic. Unfortunately, the reality is that President Biden has to sit with a murderer to do this.
When asked if he’s going to bring up the murder of Khashoggi to MBS, Biden took a walk around the question without answering it saying, “My views on Khashoggi have been made absolutely, positively clear. I have never been quiet about talking about human rights.” He said that his “position on Khashoggi is so clear — if anyone doesn’t understand it in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, then they haven’t been around for a while.”
That means he’s not going to bring it up. Biden is going to be somewhere between confronting MBS and doing Trump’s sword dance with the murderer.
Biden’s real trouble isn’t with Jamal Khashoggi’s killer. It’s with voters and his own Democratic Party.
Inflation is not Joe Biden’s fault, but Biden is president and while it’s unfair to blame him for rising prices (blame Trump), it’s his job to get them down. Other voters want him to do something to save abortion rights but there’s very little a president can do to walk around Supreme Court verdicts. It will take Congress to pass abortion rights in every state, which they will not do because there are too many of them who are cowardly jackasses. But, when/if the GOP retakes Congress, you can expect their first agenda will be to ban abortion in every state and territory. Remember, everything Republicans say are lies, including “state rights.”
A lot of Democrats want a different nominee in 2024 and for Biden to ride off into the sunset when his first term is done.
Biden says Democrats want him to run and cited a New York Times poll saying 92 percent of Democrats would vote for him. What he left out is important and that is 92 percent of Democrats would vote for him if the election were held today and it was between him and Donald Trump.
That’s like asking a Democrat if the election were held today, who would he or she vote for if the only choices were Joe Biden and a moldy old racist pro- birther dishwashing sponge covered in ketchup, castor oil, fish scales, and orange pubic hair. At the very least, eight percent of Democrats would have to think about it.
While 92 percent of Democrats would choose Biden over Trump today, 64 percent of Democrats want a nominee who is not named Joe Biden. And 94 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18 and 29 definitely want someone other than Biden to be the nominee.
Let’s face facts, Joe is old. Yeah, he’s in better shape than Donald Trump. He can jog, ride a bike, climb stairs, and go from one room to another without the use of a golf cart, but he’s still old. President Biden will be 81 years old on election day in 2024. Look for Republicans, including Donald Trump, to make a lot of noise about this even though Trump himself will be 77 on election day.
And that’s the danger Democrats face in 2024. What if Trump is not the Republican nominee? Sure, despite President Biden having an approval rating of around 39 percent at this moment (the worst of any elected president at this point in his presidency since the end of World War II), most Americans will still choose him over Donald Trump, who never got above 50 percent approval during his four years of tyranny. But, what happens if Republicans nominate a younger shinier racist in 2024? What if they choose a guy, while just as narcissistic, petty, and hateful as Donald Trump, isn’t as stupid, is literate, and doesn’t spew as much racist gibberish (his racism comesin loud and clear)? What if Republicans nominate Ron DeSantis? Yeah, ew that guy.
If Republicans had to choose today, they’d pick Trump over DeSantis. But, there is a primary contest and 77-year-old Trump may not be in physical shape for such a long grueling campaign. DeSantis is. Republicans may find a way to change their minds after several debates between the two. While the cult belongs to Trump, keep in mind that Republicans are not loyal and are extremely forgetful. The same former Never Trumpers who swore they’d never back Trump, then backed him, could turn back around and support a new guy and say they never did like Trump to begin with. Do you really believe Ted Cruz is a man of his word?
And don’t forget the stupidy of the American voter. Look at Virginia. My state went strongly for President Biden, Hillary Clinton, and twice for President Obama, then elected dog-whistling lying Glenn Youngkin. Voters are stupid and forgetful, especially the moderates.
While Republicans will always vote for racist candidates, you can trick moderates into doing so. Ron DeSantis will run on some parents’ rights bullshit and dog-whistle his ass off about Critical Race Theory and convince a majority of moderate voters to vote for him. then about a week after the election, all those moderates will go, “Oh yeah….that’s why we don’t vote for Republicans.”
Can President Biden and his 39-percent approval beat a dog-whistling Ron DeSantis in 2024, or do we need to nominate someone younger?
Let’s say yes, and if that’s the case…who?
Music note: I listened to the Foo Fighters’ “Wasting Light” album and some Evanesence while drawing this.
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.
One of my biggest problems with Donald Trump is that the leader of the free world is supposed to set an example for the rest of the world to follow and be a champion of freedom. That includes freedom of the press because even as a president may fight with journalist, he is still supposed to value the importance a free press brings to democracy. You can NOT have a free country without a free press. This is a fact.
Instead of championing freedom, Donald Trump attacked our democratic allies over the price of cheese, how much they contributed to NATO, questioned if we needed NATO, and insulted the leader of Denmark for not selling us Greenland. He sucked up to leaders who were strongmen and suppressors of freedom in Turkey, the Philippines, China, North Korea, and Russia. He took Russia’s president’s words over that of our intelligence agencies. He defended and pushed aside the murders committed by the regimes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad bin Salman.
When confronted with the fact that Putin has had journalists murdered, Trump said, “So what. Do you think we’re so nice?” We don’t throw journalists off buildings in our nation. When asked about his buddy Kim Jong Un’s murder of Otto Warmbier, an American college student, Trump said, “He feels really bad about it.”
After Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, living in the United States and under the protection of our country, was murdered in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey, Donald Trump defended the murderers. Khashoggi was lured to the embassy and then killed with a hacksaw, in that they chopped his body up into multiple pieces.
Make no mistake about it. One reason Saudi Arabia did this to a journalist and an American resident is because they knew if caught, that the President of the United States (sic) wouldn’t do anything about it.
U.S. intelligence said it was “highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization.” But Trump made suggestions that Khashoggi was aligned with terrorists, as if he had it coming. He questioned U.S intelligence and said, “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
That translates to: Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, not with freedom and not with the truth. If Donald Trump could have chopped up journalists in our country, he would have.
President Joe Biden promised us we’d get the truth. He has delivered on that. When it comes to defending freedom in this manner, he has not. Yesterday, President Joe Biden became a disappointment.
I voted for Biden. And in doing so, I knew there would be issues where I would disagree with him. I knew there would be issues where I would have to draw a cartoon taking him to task, even if it upsets some of my readers…or all of them.
But, as I’ve said before, I am not like one of those MAGAt Trump-worshipping cartoonists. I am not in a cult to Joe Biden. I do not bow down before a golden statue of him like they’re literally doing at CPAC this weekend. I don’t worship Joe Biden and forget all the principles I used to claim I cared about. I am happy Joe Biden is president over Donald Trump, but I am not Joe Biden’s friend. I do not work for the Biden administration. Just because I champion many of the same issues you do, don’t make the mistake I am on your team.
My friend and fellow cartoonist Ted Rall made some bizarre post several weeks ago about how he’ll be the only liberal who will take Biden to task, which is just flat-out wrong. I can think of several cartoonists who will do that, and especially over something like this. Also Ted works for Sputnik, which is owned by Russia. Ted works for Vladimir Putin, so there’s that.
Like I said, I’m not like those MAGAt guys, where they will criticize a politician on an issue but ignore when their side does it. How many conservative cartoonists who ignored or defended Trump’s position with the murder of Khashoggi will now turn around and criticize Biden for it? All of them.
The Biden administration released the CIA report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And it reported what we already knew. The killing was approved by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, a monarchy and dictatorship.
The conclusion was based, the report said, on the crown prince’s absolute control of decision-making, the involvement in the operation of a top adviser and seven members of his personal protective detail, and his “support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad.”
In an opinion piece, The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a contributing columnist while living as U.S. resident, calls bin Salman a murderer and that Biden should not give him a “pass.”
The Post points out that while we do need stability in the region, in the oil market, and a strong deterrent to Iran, we can’t allow bin Salman to just skip away from responsibility.
While MBS will not have a direct link to the White House through secret backchannels and apps that delete conversations (thanks, Jared), or photo-op visits in the Oval Office, he’s still going to have contact with top American diplomats. Just a few days ago, he had a phone call with our new Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
While Biden has stopped sales of arms for Saudi’s war with Yemen, which Trump refused to cease even after Congress told him to, Biden will continue to sell other arms to the kingdom for “defense.”
There will be no freeze of bin Salman’s personal assets in the United States. There will be no travel ban against him. There will be no expelling, even temporary, of the Saudi ambassador. There will be no calls for a new successor to the king of Saudi Arabia, which I should remind you, is not a democracy. Any sanctions against the nation will be minimal.
While MBS has opened up some freedoms in the nation, has released high-profile prisoners to appease Biden along with ending the blockade of Qatar, an American ally, his regime has still brutally oppressed freedom in that nation. In Saudi Arabia, you can be imprisoned for life for being gay…or receive the death sentence. How many other nations do we sell missiles to that murder people for being gay?
Saudi Arabia has the same policies on the press and LGBT as Iran.
While MBS may not chop up journalists under the protection of the United States in the immediate future, Biden’s actions doesn’t pressure them to stop murdering other journalists.
An American president should not only defend freedom in the United States. He should defend freedom worldwide. He should demand that Saudi Arabia cease all punishment of journalists. Last year, 50 journalists died throughout the world. Even our ally, Turkey, throws journalists in prison.
We have improved from having a president (sic) who called journalists the “enemy of the American people” and demanded we get rid of laws that protect a free press…you know, like the Constitution. But, just being better than Donald Trump isn’t good enough. We should demand better because we deserve better. Joe Biden was the answer to getting rid of Donald Trump. Now that we have done that, can we all move on?
When I criticized Andrew Cuomo, I did not put myself in that position. Andrew Cuomo put me there. In this case, Joe Biden has placed me in this position to go after his administration on this failed, anti-democratic, and anti-free press policy.
Trump’s position was, “Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, not with freedom and not with the truth.” Biden’s is, “Our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, the truth, and maybe some of the freedom. Eh. Here and there.”
President Joe Biden, defend a free press. Don’t coddle the murderers of journalists.
Remember Jamal Khashoggi.
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 SEVEN 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.
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.
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Donald Trump wants to send Hillary Clinton and James Comey to prison for being his political enemies while defending a man accused of ordering a murder because it’s good for business.
In one day, Trump betrayed American values.The New York Times reported that last spring, Trump told White House Counsel Don McGahn that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton and former FBI Director Comey.
McGahn, whose job became one of saving Trump from Trump, had lawyers write a memo that explaining that requesting an investigation would prompt accusations of abuse of power. It was pointed out to Trump that Justice Department lawyers could refuse to follow his orders, judges could dismiss prosecution, and Congress could investigate him and begin impeachment proceedings.
Since then, McGahn has left the White House and Trump had placed a water boy at the head of the Justice Department.
Trump has been obsessed with Hillary Clinton since the election. Her greatest crime may be that more Americans chose her over Trump. Trump believes she should be prosecuted for the way she handled her emails and for her role in Uranium One, which is a debunked conspiracy theory loved by right-wing lunatics.
He wants Comey prosecuted for sharing classified information, despite the fact he has never done that. His lawyers did ask the Justice Department to investigate Comey for mishandling sensitive government information and for his role in the Clinton email investigation. The department refused.
Presidents are supposed to leave the Justice Department alone and allow it to retain its independence. Presidents aren’t supposed to use their power to go after their enemies as if this was a third-world banana republic. The last president to meddle with the Justice Department this much was Richard Nixon, and look how that worked out for him.
When it comes between American intelligence and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Trump chose the prince because “it’s America first for me.” Huh?
It’s been two months since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a U.S. resident. He was butchered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and intelligence in Turkey and the U.S. blame Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for ordering the murder.
The CIA told Trump that bin Salman ordered the murder. Yesterday, the White House issued a statement saying, “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.” The statement began and ended with “America first,” and included, “Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an ‘enemy of the state,'” which also mirrors Trump’s “enemy of the people” criticism of the press.
Trump doesn’t really care if MBS ordered the hit or not. He’s letting him off the hook because he’s worried about oil prices, U.S. arms sales, and believes Saudi Arabia counters Iran. We’re currently backing Saudi Arabia in a war in Yemen where rebels are supported by Iran. The war in Yemen may be a war where we are on the wrong side.
What the White House statement failed to disclose was how much money Saudi princes have invested in Donald Trump and Jared Kushner. Hopefully, a Democratic Congress will discover exactly how much Saudi Arabia has paid Trump and Kushner, and if they’re owned or not.
Donald Trump has given clearance to other nations to do whatever the hell they want without any real political costs coming from the United States. Already, authoritarians across the world are mimicking Trump’s language toward the press and political enemies. They’ve also discovered they can just make stuff up without providing any basis in facts.
Trump is telling the world that it’s OK if they’re authoritarian states because that’s what he’s trying to turn America into.
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!!!
Which is worse? That Donald Trump is too stupid to understand that continuing to attack the press in the wake of the death of Jamal Khashoggi is tacky, tasteless, and offensive, or that he knows and just doesn’t care?
Earlier this week at a rally in Montana, Trump talked about a Republican’s physical assault on a reporter, which he and his angry mob all laughed over.
Last May during a special Congressional election in Montana, Greg Gianforte attacked Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian. Gianforte initially denied doing it until witnesses and a recording of the attack came to light. He apologized and was found guilty of assault. Naturally, in this new normal, he won the election.
Trump praised the guy and said, “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy” and made a gesture mimicking a body slam. Don’t forget, Trump is a wrestling fan. The theme of Trump’s speech was highlighting how Republicans are the party of “law and order” and Democrats are for “angry mobs.” I’m starting to believe that cognitive dissonance is contagious.
The Guardian’s U.S. editor, John Mulholland said, “In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats. We hope decent people will denounce these comments and that the President will see fit to apologize for them.”
Places like Turkey and Saudi Arabia weren’t bastions for press freedom before Trump came along, but now, journalists are literally being killed in brazen fashion.
The Saudis killed Khashoggi in their Istanbul consulate. After claiming for two weeks they had no idea of Mr. Khashoggi’s whereabouts, then speculating that he was dispatched by “rogue killers,” a theory Trump also tossed about, they now admit he’s dead. They claim he died in a fist fight and that eighteen nationals have been arrested. Turkey claims his body was cut into pieces while he was still alive.
There are still questions. Why was he being questioned? Why was he being questioned by so many people? What proof is there that anyone has actually been arrested? Finally, where is the body?
While stating the death was “unacceptable,” Trump added that Saudi Arabia is a “great ally.”
Trump, who has done business worth millions for years with Saudi Arabia, has consistently expressed that money is more important than this journalist’s life. He is more concerned about a potential arms deal with the Arab nation than press freedom. Perhaps favoring the dollar over humanity is how Trump became a billionaire, in addition to conning and inheriting. Saying an attack on a journalist is “unacceptable” is a little hard to swallow when you’re leading a hate rally in laughing about an attack on a reporter.
Every journalist’s freedom should be defended by the leader of the free world. An American president should make it a top priority to defend the life of a journalist working for an American news outlet, even if he believes they’re “fake news.” He should not be helping autocrats he idolizes in covering up a murder.
What has been proven this week is that we have a fake president.
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!!!
During Donald Trump’s Helsinki Summit with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin was asked about having compromising information on Trump. Putin responded to the American journalist by telling him, “Just disregard these issues and don’t think about this anymore again.” As the supposed leader of the free world, an American president should have taken this opportunity to educate an authoritarian leader that that’s not the way it works in free nations. He should have told him that free nations have freedom of the press, that it’s the first part of our Constitution, and that no president, American or Russian, can tell an American journalist what they can cover, not to mention what they can and can’t think about. Instead of doing any of that, Donald Trump just smiled smugly, appearing very satisfied with Putin’s answer and lecturing of the reporter.
We are not surprised Trump isn’t defending the press, human rights, or just basic rights over the murder of a journalist for The Washington Post. Trump is a man who accuses the media of being the “enemy of the American people” and flings out the term “fake news” on an almost daily basis. In fact, he even used it yesterday. Saudi Arabia probably took a cue from Trump when murdering Jamal Khashoggi and considered him an enemy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Someone is taking cues from someone else. At first, we thought Trump was taking it from Saudi Arabia when he speculated that Khashoggi was murdered by “rogue killers.” For this theory to work, you have to believe that somehow a band of “rogue killers” flew into Turkey on a private jet owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, broke into the Saudi Arabian consulate, murdered a man, chopped his body up, sterilized the room, and flew out of the country within hours on the same private jet, and did it all quietly. Now, it appears Saudi Arabia may be taking the “rogue Killer” cue from Trump.
What may be the most despicable about this is that the president of the United States of America is helping murderers craft a cover story.
When asked if he’s helping them engage in a cover-up, Trump denies it and immediately goes into how much Saudi Arabia spends on arms and “other things.” He expresses concern that the Kingdom will do their defense shopping elsewhere, like Russia or China. He points out that Khashoggi was not an American citizen and only a permanent U.S. resident, as if that means it’s not our problem.
The president who claims he’s a great deal maker is showing the entire world that he’s not a deal maker at all, and more of a patsy. Saudi Arabia needs arms from the United States. They would face more pressure from the inability to purchase from us than we would from the loss of their money. Yet, Trump is allowing them all the leverage.
Trump is stating publicly how much we need their money. Instead of demanding that Saudi Arabia come here to do some “splaining,” he sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to them, where he was photographed with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), who is suspected of ordering the murder, smiling and laughing. Trump can’t criticize the Kingdom over a murder, yet he attacks Canada over cheese.
What we need to question isn’t money the Saudi government is spending on American defense products and “things,” but how much they’ve spent on Donald Trump.
Trump denies having any financial interest in Saudi Arabia. Is he lying or being tricky with his words? Maybe he doesn’t have any financial interest IN the Kingdom, but they have a stake in him.
First, Saudi Arabia, like Russia, was very interested in helping Trump win the election. In 2016, an emissary for two princes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates met with Donald Trump Jr. and other Trump goons offering to help Trump win the election. I wonder if they met in the same room where they held the meeting with Russians. After the election, Saudi Arabia paid Trump campaign veterans $5.4 million to lobby on their behalf, in areas where they’ve never hired lobbyists before.
But, you don’t have to take my word for Donald Trump having financial connections to Saudi Arabia. You can take his. At a campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama in 2015, he said, “I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!”
In 2001, Trump sold the 45th floor in Trump World Tower to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for $4.5 million. That’s an entire floor. When Trump was $900 million in debt, a Saudi prince helped him out by purchasing his yacht for $20 million, that Trump had paid $29 million for (there’s those great deal making abilities again). Since the election, Saudi Arabia has spent over $270,000 at the Washington Trump Hotel. Trump’s hotels in New York City and Chicago have also had a rush of visitors since the election. Why do they always want to stay at Trump hotels? The interesting detail about the hotels in NYC and Chicago is that bookings are down, but the Saudis are helping defray those lost revenues.
After he announced his presidential campaign, Trump registered eight companies in Saudi Arabia.
While Republicans accused the Clintons of being corrupt, and taking money from Saudi Arabia (seriously), Trump’s corruption is staring us right in the face. He’s violating the emoluments clause, he won’t release his taxes, and he’s lying about where his income is coming from. His supporters point out that he’s giving his salary back to the government but ignore the fact that he’s making a windfall off taxpayers.
This stupidity of the Trump administration can be amusing and I get some good cartoons out of it, but it’s becoming dangerous. People are literally being murdered and the president is trying to help the murderers cover it up. We need to stop Trump before he tries to turn the United States into the kingdom of Trumplandia. He’s already practicing the nepotism that’s the governmental structure in Saudi Arabia.
We need to keep the pressure on Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump until we receive answers on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And, after they give us those bullshit answers we should demand the real ones.
We thought Donald Trump was horrible when he was merely a stupid, sexist, racist bigot stealing from charity, defrauding the government, and defending Nazis and pedophiles. Now, we know he’s even worse and will help cover up an actual murder.
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!!!
claytoonz 