Vernon Township Republican organization officials on Wednesday called their publication of a much-criticized political cartoon that made light of domestic violence “a lapse in judgment.”
“Internal documents are often times prepared in haste, without enough forethought, especially without intent for public consumption,” the Buffalo Grove-based group said in a prepared statement. “We will improve our procedures moving forward.”
The two-panel cartoon, which the group published in its August newsletter, depicts a visibly injured woman wearing a “Vote Blue” T-shirt telling an anthropomorphic donkey with tattoos reading “war,” “open border” “crime” and more that she won’t leave him “as long as I can have abortions.”
Officials from both parties blasted the cartoon and the group for publishing it.
Democratic Lake County Circuit Court Clerk Erin Cartwright Weinstein, a former Lake County prosecutor who handled many domestic abuse cases, said she was “truly disgusted” that the GOP made a joke out of domestic violence.
“This is a serious issue in our society, and one of the most difficult issues for our community to address,” Weinstein said in an email. “This is not funny under any circumstances.”
Lake County Circuit Court Clerk Erin Cartwright Weinstein
Democratic state Rep. Daniel Didech called the cartoon “offensive, outrageous and downright weird.”
“Violence against women is never a joke, and dismissing very real concerns about reproductive freedom is insulting and dangerous to the vast majority of women in Vernon Township who support the right to choose,” he said in an email.
Democratic Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart lashed out at Republicans for publishing the piece, too.
“This is a stunning and disgusting moment for Lake County Republicans,” Rinehart said in a news release. “Domestic violence is no laughing matter. Every Republican candidate should denounce this sexist, racist, and Trump-like cartoon that dismisses violence against women while ridiculing those who want reproductive rights.”
Rinehart’s Republican challenger in the Nov. 5 election, Mary Cole, also condemned the cartoon’s publication. A former domestic violence victim’s advocate who herself was a victim, Cole said domestic violence “needs to be taken seriously and not reduced to political fodder.”
Jim Carris, a Republican candidate for the 10th Congressional District seat, said turning domestic violence into a joke and using it as a political tool “trivializes a serious issue affecting many families in our community and is entirely in bad taste.”
Jim Carris, Lake Forest Republican and candidate for Congress in the 10th District