WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz blasted the Washington Post for briefly posting an editorial cartoon on its website depicting his young daughters as monkeys and criticizing him for featuring them in the political area.
The cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes on Tuesday showed Cruz as an organ grinder street entertainer in a Santa suit accompanied by two small dancing monkeys. On Twitter, Telnaes said she was justified in including the children because Cruz, who is among the top Republicans seeking the party's nomination for the November 2016 election, had used them in a political ad.
Cruz, a U.S. senator representing Texas, quickly responded with a campaign fundraising appeal criticizing "the liberal media" and seeking financial contributions to "send a message to The Washington Post."
"Classy. @washingtonpost makes fun of my girls," Cruz said on Twitter. "Stick w/ attacking me--Caroline & Catherine are out of your league."
The Post removed the cartoon and replaced it with a note explaining that its policy generally is to avoid children in its editorial section.
"I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published," Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said. "I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree."
Cruz featured his wife and two daughters in a political ad released last week that shows him reading holiday stories parodying U.S. President Barack Obama's policies such as "How Obamacare Stole Christmas." As of Wednesday, it had more than 1.5 million views on youtube.com. (bit.ly/1NvqZfm)
Cruz, who once read bedtime stories to his children from the floor of the Senate, also included his daughters in another video posted online by his Senate campaign five months ago.
"Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad- don't start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well," Telnaes said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another Republican presidential candidate, backed Cruz, calling the cartoon "disgusting" in a tweet.
"Thank you, @marcorubio Appreciate the kind support," Cruz responded. "We're both Dads of young kids, and it's hard enough on them."
For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales from the Trail” (here).
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott)
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