'The Butler Eagle' Drops 'Non Sequitur' Cartoon Over Vulgar Trump Insult
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In the Sunday comics of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and seven hundred other newspapers, scribbled in the corner of one cartoon were the words "---- yourself Trump" using three of the four letters of the F-word.
The cartoonist is David Wiley Miller, well known to local cartoonist Rob Rogers.
"I've known him for -- oh, man -- probably over 30 years," Rogers told KDKA on Monday.
Rogers says Wiley's cartoon -- Non Sequitur -- is generally non-political, but not this week.
"He hid a tiny comment in the cartoon where you wouldn't necessarily look for it, and it was a derogatory comment about the President," said Rogers.
"While I agree with his politics and his sentiments certainly, I don't necessarily think that was the best use of it."
Putting the F-word in a cartoon that appears in the comic strips of a family newspaper without alerting the publisher to that does seem to cross the line.
And many think this has nothing to do with free speech.
"Almost disbelief," said Ron Vodenichar, who publishes The Butler Eagle when he learned that his newspaper had printed that cartoon.
"I just couldn't belief that any professional would do just a thing."
Vodenichar says the Butler Eagle will no longer run Wiley's cartoons.
Late on Monday, Wiley apologized, saying the comment was a mistake.
"I was particularly aggravated that day about something the President had done or said, and so I lashed out in a rather sophomoric manner as instant therapy.
"It was NOT intended for public consumption, which is why it's scribbled."
The Andrews McMeel Syndicate that distributed Wiley's cartoon also apologized.
"We are sorry we missed the language in our editing process. If we had discovered them, we would not have distributed the cartoon without them being removed."
The upshot for Wiley?
"Because it's syndicated, he may lose a couple of papers here and there," says Rogers, "but he may also gain some papers. You never know."
