Check out the timelapse drawing video for this cartoon! You get to see me get started on drawing it, then throw everything out so I can rewrite it and start over.
I saw a video which interviewed a teacher and a principal, both of whom seemed like very dedicated educators, both of whom realized that cutting federal funding for poor children, as Trump wants, would be catastrophic for their school.
Both of them had voted for Trump. Neither of them seemed to regret that, let alone seeing their vote as a betrayal of the interests of low-income kids attending their school.
If their school does suffer big budget cuts, I suspect they’ll find a way to blame it on Biden, or Obama, or Democrats in general. Trumpists – including Trump himself – have a long history of shifting blame in this way (see child separation, the Afghanistan withdrawal, the DC plane crash, inflation, and many other examples.)
(I actually have a tiny bit of sympathy for Trump denying responsibility for inflation after only a month in office. Although Trump’s tariffs and deportations will certainly raise prices, I don’t think that effect has happened yet. Inflation can be caused by many things which aren’t under Trump’s control – and weren’t under Biden’s control.)
(On the other hand, in December Trump promised “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one,” so based on that it seems fair to blame him now. And also, you know, fuck that guy.)
The “Trump voters fuck around and find out” genre of video has been understandably popular among lefties lately, but I’m worried that it may be wistful thinking on our part. I suspect most Trump voters won’t abandon Trump, no matter how badly he hurts them or their families; they’ll just construct alternate narratives in which Trump’s policies are blamed on liberals, or DEI, or Biden, or immigrants, or even Obama.
Of course, to win elections, Democrats don’t need most Trump voters to abandon Trumpism – we just need enough Trump voters. But if we’re waiting for most Trump voters to admit that they’ve screwed the country, and themselves, badly, we’ll be waiting a long time.
I originally wrote a different script, and was in the process of drawing it when I had the idea I liked better.
I was sorry to lose the newspaper gag in panel two, but on the whole I like the revised script better.
The original script didn’t even mention Trump – I just have an aversion to admitting the guy exists.
I had a lot of fun drawing the Dad getting shot in panel two, trying to find the way to make a gruesome event look funny and cute.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels.
PANEL 1
In a park, a blonde woman with a panicked expression is talking to a young man wearing a MAGA cap and an older man, both of whom are amused.
WOMAN: Trump says he’s gonna shoot your dad in the face!
MAGA GUY: Silly liberal! He’s not coming after good dads like mine.
DAD: You tell ‘im, son!
PANEL 2
A huge sound effect – “BANG!” – dominates the panel. The older man flies back, his skull fragmenting into pieces and his brain falling out, while Maga Guy watches with a shocked expression.
PANEL 3
The woman and Maga Guy stare in shock at the father’s dead body.
PANEL 4
Maga Guy swings around, pointing accusingly at the woman and yelling.
MAGA GUY: This is BIDEN’S fault!
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is long-dead cartoonists’ lingo for unimportant details stuck in the art for fun.
PANEL 1: Kermit the Frog is peering around a tree in the background. The woman has a tattoo of Beaker from The Muppet Show on her bicep.
PANEL 2: The grain of the log is forming a smiley face.
PANEL 3: A bird flying by has a moon-faced head with a grinning human face. An evil bunny stands in front of the tree, smoking and wearing a fedora. Heihei, the chicken from the Moana movies, is sticking his head out a hole in the tree. The woman’s tattoo is now of Fozzie Bear.
PANEL 4: A sunglasses-wearing snake is coming out of a hole in the ground. Big Bird is sticking his head out of the hole in the tree. The woman’s tattoo shows Scooter from the Muppets.
Comment by “TheHumanPickleRick” on Reddit: