WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) — In a rare moment of unity among Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came to the defense of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose children were depicted in a Washington Post cartoon.
The cartoon depicted Cruz’s young daughters Catherine and Caroline as monkeys, with their father dressed as an organ grinder. Post Cartoonist Anna Telnaes tweeted the cartoon Tuesday, saying “Ted Cruz uses his daughters as political props.” The tweet has since been deleted, but many news outlets were able to grab screen shots.
The Washington Post pulled the cartoon after Cruz attacked the paper. Cruz told the paper to stick with attacking him. “Caroline & Catherine are out of your league,” he tweeted.
The cartoon was replaced on the Post’s website Tuesday evening with a statement from editor Fred Hiatt: “It’s generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree.”
Cruz also tweeted his own cartoon Wednesday afternoon, depicting Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Clinton walking two dogs, labeled “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post.”