Cartoonist Michael de Adder Claims He Lost His Job Because of His Viral Donald Trump Cartoon

John F. Trent |

Jul 2, 2019

Canadian cartoonist Michael de Adder claims he lost his job from a number of newspapers owned by Brunswick News Inc. in New Brunswick including Times & Transcript, The Daily Gleaner, and the Telegraph-Journal due to a Donald Trump cartoon he drew.

The cartoon in question depicted Donald Trump golfing over the bodies of two dead illegal immigrants.

Cartoon for June 26, 2019 on #trump #BorderCrisis #BORDER #TrumpCamps #TrumpConcentrationCamps pic.twitter.com/Gui8DHsebl

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 26, 2019

Michael de Adder announced he was “let go” on June 28th.

The highs and lows of cartooning. Today I was just let go from all newspapers in New Brunswick. #editorialcartooning #nbpoli #editorialcartooning

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 28, 2019

My cartoons will no longer appear in @TimesTranscript @DailyGleaner @TJProvincial @TJGreaterSJ

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 28, 2019

He would go on to insinuate that he believed he was let go over the Donald Trump cartoon. The cartoon was not submitted to any of his editors at Brunswick News Inc., but rather he posted it online.

Does it matter if I was fired over one Donald Trump cartoon when every Donald Trump cartoon I submitted in the past year was axed?

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

It got to the point where I didn’t submit any Donald Trump cartoons for fear that I might be fired.

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

And Donald Trump doesn’t even matter. It’s a distraction from the big picture.

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

The Premier of New Brunswick Blaine Higgs is a former Irving Oil executive and any cartoon I drew that was slightly critical of him was systematically axed. You want to know why I was let go? I wanted to do my job as an editorial cartoonist, and they wanted me to do their job.

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

But in the past 2 weeks I drew 3 Trump cartoons. 2 went viral and the third went supernova and a day later I was let go. And not only let go, the cartoons they already had in the can were not used. Overnight it was like I never worked for the paper. Make your own conclusions.

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

In an interview on CNN, Michael de Adder would elaborate. He would initially tell Jake Tapper, “I don’t know.” He then goes on to detail that that he had a conversation with his editor about why he was let go. He details that his online presence was not why he was let go.

When Jake Tapper questioned if he believes he was let go because of the theory that the family that owns newspaper wants to remain in the good graces of Donald Trump because they also own an oil business, de Adder responded, “That’s the only thing that makes sense really. Business interests affect all decisions at the newspaper and within the company. The bottom line is the only line at the newspaper.”

https://youtu.be/5lgKm86IAwU

Brunswick News Inc. would issue a response on Sunday, June 30th regarding their contract with Michael De Adder:

“It is entirely incorrect to suggest Brunswick News Inc. cancelled its freelance contract with cartoonist Michael de Adder due to a cartoon depicting Donald Trump currently circulating on social media. This is a false narrative which has emerged carelessly and recklessly on social media. In fact, BNI was not even offered this cartoon by Mr. de Adder. The decision to bring back reader favourite Greg Perry was made long before this cartoon, and negotiations had been ongoing for weeks.”

Please see the attached statement issued today by Brunswick News Inc. regarding incorrect information on social media about BNI’s freelance contract with cartoonist Michael de Adder. pic.twitter.com/173SSPMJYs

— Telegraph-Journal (@TJProvincial) June 30, 2019

What do you make of Michael de Adder’s claims?