TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas county Republican Party chairman who owns a weekly newspaper has apologized for a cartoon posted on the paper's Facebook page that equated the Democratic governor's coronavirus-inspired order for people to wear masks in public with the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Anderson County Review owner Dane Hicks said in a statement Sunday on Facebook that he was removing the cartoon after "heartfelt and educational conversations" with Jewish leaders.
The newspaper posted the cartoon Friday, and it drew dozens of critical responses and international attention.
It depicts Gov. Laura Kelly wearing a mask with a Jewish Star of David on it, next to a drawing of people being loaded onto train cars. Its caption ends with, "step onto the cattle car."
Kelly called the cartoon "deeply offensive." At a briefing on Monday afternoon, she said it also serves as an example of "how politicized common sense public health measures have become."
"Using this type of rhetoric to describe a mask mandate didn’t start with the Anderson County Review," Kelly said Monday. "Many elected leaders in this state and across the country have chosen to dismiss recommendations from public health experts in favor of short-term political points."
A blog post by Hicks on Saturday defending the cartoon also drew critical responses.
