Today's cartoon by Dave Brown in The Independent relates to Donald Trump's seemingly unstoppable march towards the Republican Party nomination, to the horror of party leaders who see him as a toxic influence who could cost them the White House and Senate.
THE CARTOON
The cartoon, which is presented as framed painting, is based on an engraving by Gustave Doré entitled "The Death of Eleazar" (you can see it here). Eleazar Maccabeus’ death is told in the Old Testament book of “I Maccabees”. During the Battle of Beth-zechariah, Eleazar thought he saw the enemy King Antiochus V riding an elephant near by. Thinking he would perform a heroic act by killing the elephant and king, Eleazar jumped under the elephant and stabbed it in the stomach with his spear. The dead elephant fell right on top of Eleazar killing him instantly. In Dave Brown's version, the elephant represents the Republican Party, which is appropriate since the party's symbol is an elephant. The Republican elephant is standing on a chair, having been frightened, not by the traditional mouse but by a weasel (or is it a ferret?). In Dave Brown's cartoons, the weasel/ferret is used to represent Donald Trump's hair (see here, here, and here!), and in this one it represents Trump himself. Riding on top of the elephant are two men who have been trying (unsuccessfully) to shoot the weasel/ferret with bows and arrows. One of them is the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who made a speech violently attacking Trump a couple of days ago. I'm not sure who the other one is meant to be. Dead bodies are strewn all around (the other candidates for the Republican nomination?) In the background we can see the Capitol crumbling, another symbol of Trump's malign influence. The title of the painting is 'Trumped!', a play on the name and the verb 'trump', which means "to be better than, or have more importance or power than another person or thing". In fact, the GOP has been trumped by Trump!
ALSO SEE
• Donald Trump 2016 (cartoon collection from The Cagle Post)
• GOP Debate (Times cartoon by Morten Morland)
• Bald Eagle (Telegraph cartoon by Bob)
