Magazines skewer Donald Trump in wake of Charlottesville, “alt-right” comments

Some North American and European magazines this week are taking a provocative look at the state of political rhetoric in the United States —particularly that of President Donald Trump — in the wake of the deadly violence that broke out during a so-called alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Va. last weekend.

The New Yorker and The Economist covers feature Trump while evoking the KKK. The art on Time magazine, on the other hand, depicts an individual draped in the American flag with his arm up in a Nazi salute, framing the headline “Hate in America.”

Germany’s Der Spiegel, meanwhile, took a much more direct approach. Its cover this week shows a man dressed in a black suit jacket, white shirt and red tie, standing against a black background. On his head sits the white hood of the KKK. If there was any doubt about the identity of the man under the hood, the headline reads, “The true face of Donald Trump.”

The editorial and accompanying cartoon in the issue of the Economist hold no punches.

“Mr. Trump has neither skill nor self-knowledge, and this week showed that he does not have the character to change,” the editorial reads after laying out how “this week he has bungled the simplest of political tests: finding a way to condemn Nazis.”

The New Yorker cover art, entitled “Blowhard,” shows Trump sitting solo in a small sailboat, the main sail in the image of a KKK hood.

In a blurb featured on the magazine’s site, artist David Plunkert is said to “seldom take on political subject matter, but felt moved to do so” following the president’s reaction and remarks to the violence in Charlottesville.

“President Trump’s weak pushback to hate groups — as if he was trying not to alienate them as voters—compelled me to take up my pen,” he said.

Following the rally, counter-rally and fatal violence in Charlottesville, many were looking to the president to unify the country, and denounce the violence that resulted in the death of one woman and injured 19 more.

Instead, he assigned blame to “both sides” for the tragedy.

“They came at each other with clubs … it was a horrible thing to watch,” Trump told reporters.

While saying there were “bad” people, including neo-Nazis, in the “alt-right” group, he said the same of the left-wing group.

According to the Alliance for Audited Media, Time‘s circulation is 3,028,013, The New Yorker‘s is 1,236,041 and The Economist‘s is 636,885. Der Spiegel has a circulation of 1 million, according to its FAQ page.