The Boston Herald and its cartoonist issued an apology Wednesday for the publication of a political cartoon that mocked President Obama and the recent Secret Service security failures, which immediately faced sharp criticism for its racist and offensive content.
Appearing on Wednesday's editorial page, the cartoon was drawn by Jerry Holbert as a satirical look depicting recent news of how an intruder went farther into the White House last month than it was previously known, CNN reported.
The image features President Obama brushing his teeth in a White House bathroom while an intruder is seen sitting in the bathtub behind him, asking "Have you tried the new watermelon-flavored toothpaste?"
Noting that the watermelon aspect played into a stereotype of African-Americans, critics expressed outrage, with some social media users deeming it as offensive, according to CBS News.
Speaking with Boston Herald Radio on Wednesday morning, Holbert addressed the issue. He said that he never intended any offense, apologized "to anyone I offended who was hurt by the cartoon" and that he was "completely naive or innocent to any racial connotations" and "wasn't thinking along those lines at all."
When asked about the origins of the watermelon reference in the cartoon, Holbert told the station:
"Well, I did the sketch and I thought of, because it's calling for a new flavor, I thought I needed something different than spearmint and peppermint, and I remembered that my son's girlfriend in the past, she'd bought some toothpaste and left it in our closet upstairs. I went and pulled it out and it was a kids Colgate watermelon flavor, and I thought 'Oh, that would be good' because I myself love watermelon, and I thought that would be a great one and I just used the watermelon."
Earlier on Tuesday night, Holbert was contacted by the syndicator of the cartoon, asking if they could change the word from watermelon to raspberry, citing a possible racial element, Fox News reported.
"They said there's a racial element to it, and I disagreed to be honest with you, but I did it anyway because that's what they were asking for," Holbert said, adding that he regretted not calling The Herald to let them know about the syndicate's objection.
"I should have done that. That was where I would say I wish I had done that. I didn't think people would think that way," he said. "Obviously that was very naive on my part, that was stupid on my part."
Sue Roush, the managing editor of gocomics.com, told WBZ-TV, the Holbert cartoon "was reviewed by an editor here, as all our content is, before being sent to syndication clients and posted on our GoComics website.
"The editor suggested to Jerry that the use of watermelon as a toothpaste flavor could inject a racial subtext that would distract from the point of the cartoon. Jerry agreed and happily replaced it with raspberry."
Meanwhile, the paper also released an apology on its site, noting: "As Jerry Holbert discussed on Boston Herald Radio this morning, his cartoon satirizing the U.S. Secret Service breach at the White House has offended some people and to them we apologize. His choice of imagery was absolutely not meant to be hurtful. We stand by Jerry, who is a veteran cartoonist with the utmost integrity."
The image remains on the Herald's website Wednesday afternoon.
