How cartoons are spoofing Trump’s heated reaction to the election results

“The first cartoon I drew this week was on a more predictable aspect to this election,” the Pulitzer Prize winner says. “Since Trump had threatened legal action before the first ballot was even cast, the cartoon I drew for Election Day reflected the distinct possibility that this presidential race would end up in court.”

As the results rolled in and the Biden-Harris ticket took a commanding lead, Bennett says he could zero in on Trump’s tactics of denial.

“With the election in the hands of just a few battleground states, the president’s reaction was quintessential Trump,” he says. “He either filed frivolous lawsuits against the states that were threatening his reelection bid, or he baselessly dismissed the results from those states as being the product of a rigged election.

“If the people had spoken, their president didn’t seem all too interested in listening.”

Adam Zyglis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Buffalo News, faced a similar challenge as he drew an image of Trump clinging to the presidency — even as his chances of winning began to fade.

“Satirizing Trump this week has been especially hard, because he continues to act as a grotesque exaggeration of himself in the midst of a moment of such gravity,” Zyglis says. “How does one caricature a caricature?

“In many ways, Trump’s actions and words used to delegitimize the election have been predictable,” he continues. “For months, he’s been undercutting the election and attacking mail-in ballots. But to see and hear him spew such lies from the White House [Thursday] was heartbreaking. Our elections sit at the foundation of our democracy, and every American should be appalled.”

Meanwhile, Steve Breen, the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist for the San Diego Union-Tribune, views the Trump-Biden showdown as opportunity that runneth over for satirists.

“Presidential elections are always filled with so many different possibilities and angles for cartoonists that it’s like drinking from a firehouse,” Breen says. “This year, it’s like drinking from Niagara Falls.”

Here is how some other cartoonists are lampooning the presidential election:

Patrick Bagley (Salt Lake Tribune):

Steve Sack (Minneapolis Star Tribune):

Kevin Siers (Charlotte Observer):