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Photos The cover of the July 21 issue of the New Yorker. (AP/CBS/The New Yorker)
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(The Politico) This story was written by Mike Allen.
campaign is condemning as tasteless and offensive a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife.
An American flag burns in their fireplace.
The New Yorker says it's satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news.
The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly e-mailed: We completely agree with the Obama campaign, its tasteless and offensive.
The issue, which goes on sale Monday, includes a long piece by Ryan Lizza about Obamas start in Chicago politics.
At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Obama was asked, according to a transcript by Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: The upcoming issue of The New Yorker, the July 21 issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover.
Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK-47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if youve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?
Obama, shrugging incredulously, replied: I have no response to that.
The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, in The Politics of Fear, artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obamas campaign.
Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post said Sunday on his CNN media show Reliable Sources that the cover is arguably incendiary.
I talked to the editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, who tells me this is a satire, that they are making fun of all the rumors, Kurtz added.
Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune defended it as quite within the normal realms of journalism, adding that it's just lampooning all the crazy ignorance out there.
The panelists agreed it would succeed in its goal of getting attention.
Barack Obama's campaign is condemning as tasteless and offensive a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife.An American flag burns in their fireplace.The New Yorker says it's satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news.The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly e-mailed: We completely agree with the Obama campaign, its tasteless and offensive.The issue, which goes on sale Monday, includes a long piece by Ryan Lizza about Obamas start in Chicago politics.At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Obama was asked, according to a transcript by Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: The upcoming issue of The New Yorker, the July 21 issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover.Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK-47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if youve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?Obama, shrugging incredulously, replied: I have no response to that.The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, in The Politics of Fear, artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obamas campaign.Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post said Sunday on his CNN media show Reliable Sources that the cover is arguably incendiary.I talked to the editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, who tells me this is a satire, that they are making fun of all the rumors, Kurtz added.Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune defended it as quite within the normal realms of journalism, adding that it's just lampooning all the crazy ignorance out there.The panelists agreed it would succeed in its goal of getting attention. By Mike Allen
Copyright 2008 POLITICO E-Mail Story
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We cover politics with enterprise, style, and impact.
''The New Yorker'''s July 21, 2008 cover illustration by Barry Blitt.
Controversy surrounds a cartoon on the cover of the latest issue of ''The New Yorker'' magazine, which portrays United States Presidential contender Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as terrorists.

In the cartoon, Obama dons a robe and turban, while Michelle is dressed in fatigues and carries a gun. The two are in the Oval Office giving each other a fist bump, a greeting which one Fox News Channel commentator has previously called a "terrorist fist jab", while an American flag burns in the fireplace in the background.

''The New Yorker'' indicated that Barry Blitt's cartoon was intended to lampoon "the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign." Editor David Remnick noted that satire is a useful tool in bringing sensitive issues to people's attention.

Statements from both Obama's campaign office and that of prospective Republican candidate John McCain, however, have condemned the cover as "tasteless and offensive".

The publication continues to defend its position that the cover is a work of satire.