One comparison you should probably never make of the President of the United States: calling him or depicting him as an ape.
A Belgian newspaper has apologized for a photoshopped caricature of U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama resembling chimpanzees.
The image appeared in De Morgen (The Morning) on Saturday, ahead of Obama’s arrival in the Netherlands to attend the Nuclear Security Summit and his first visit to Brussels on Wednesday, when he’ll visit Flanders Fields in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
The Flemish-language publication said the image appeared in a weekly satirical section of the paper, called the Morning Herald. Saturday’s edition was renamed the “Obama Herald” and contained 12 pages of coverage dedicated to the president’s visit.
De Morgen‘s depiction of the Obamas was apparently intended as a jab at Vladimir Putin, not the U.S. president.
“Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia. He sent us this attachment at our request, and chose to send pictures instead of text ‘because he doesn’t have a lot of time,’” read the translation of the satirical text that appeared along with the picture.
In an article titled “Is De Morgen Racist?” political editor Bart Eeckhout apologized to anyone who was offended by the image and said the paper was “guilty of bad taste.”
“We wrongly assumed that racism is no longer tolerated anywhere, and that as a result it could be the subject of a joke,” a translation of the apology read. “…When you consider the fragment apart from its context, which is a properly worked out satirical section, then you don’t see the joke but just a picture evoking sheer racism. That was a risk we didn’t consider enough beforehand.”
Eeckhout described De Morgen as a “progressive, ‘liberal’ newspaper” and that the publication took a clear stance against racism and discrimination.
That wasn’t the only ape reference in the past week.
Appearing on Fox News Monday night, George W. Bush-era Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld told Greta Van Susteren “a trained ape could get a status of forces agreement.”
He was talking about how the Obama administration has yet to secure an agreement with Afghan president Hamid Karzai that, according to The Hill, would allow the U.S. to keep a small number of troops in the country after the U.S. withdrawal is complete.
But that didn’t stop people from comparing Rumsfeld’s comment to De Morgen‘s gaffe.
But, one person who really meant to make a jab at Obama using an ape reference was Tea Party-endorsing former rock musician Ted Nugent.
In January, he referred to Obama as a “chimpanzee” and a “subhuman mongrel.”
Nugent’s comments were widely condemned by the political party he supports. Even some of the staunchest anti-Obama Republicans spoke out against Nugent’s comments, including Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, John McCain and former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
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