History Main / PoliticalCartoons

** Cartoonists that oppose Donald Trump tend to depict him as very fat with an unrealistically orange face and tiny hands. Pro-Trump cartoonists are more realistic in his cartoon.

* VerySpecialEpisode: A cartoon about a deadly tragedy or a solemn holiday will usually be completely humorless.

* PropagandaMachine: Right-wing cartoonists ''always'' love to go after the media. Fox News is a popular left-wing target but appears less often.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Virtually every major story is going to be covered, from every political turn in an election, to major legislation passed, to deadly tragedies, to even flash-in-the-pan fads (e.g. there were dozens of Ice Bucket Challenge cartoons when it was popular).

* HypocriticalHumor: A politician accusing the other side of doing something immoral while doing that same thing as well. Or a politician denying a claim about him while demonstrating otherwise.

* AccentuateTheNegative: A left-leaning cartoonist will always conjure up more attacks on the right than praises of the left, and vice versa. Centrists generally portray both sides of the political spectrum negatively.

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Generally the portrayal of the (current) U.S. President will be anything but sympathetic.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Democratic Donkey, Republican Elephant, Wall Street Pigs, etc.

* ExpoLabel

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: For example: the American Eagle, the Russian Bear, the British Lion, etc.

* ViewersAreMorons: Always make sure your metaphorical images are properly labelled, so Joe Citizen can tell what you are talking about!

* TheKlan: Left-wing cartoons will likely portray Republicans as sympathizers of the KKK and white supremacy.

* TheKlan: Portraying Republicans as Klan sympathizers is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Ironically, the KKK were actually affiliated with the Democrats.

* NationalAnimalStereotypes

* PatrioticFervor

* StrawmanPolitical
* StrawmanU: "Berzerkeley" tends to be more focused on, as it's a far more common theme. Right-wing

* {{Anvilicious}} [[invoked]]

* HeManWomanHater[=/=]StrawMisogynist: A common caricature of right-wing politicians.

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Generally the portrayal of the U.S. President will be anything but sympathetic.

* John Tenniel, who besides illustrating ''[[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', also drew the famous "[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/1890_Bismarcks_Ruecktritt.jpg Dropping the Pilot]]" cartoon for ''Punch''

* AccentuateTheNegative: A left-leaning cartoonist will always conjure up more attacks on the right than praises of the left, and vice versa. Centrists generally portray both sides of the political spectrum negatively, although lately they've gone after the right more often.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Virtually every major story is going to be covered, from every political turn in an election, to major legislation passed, to deadly tragedies, to even flash-in-the-pan fads (i.e., there were dozens of Ice Bucket Challenge cartoons when it was popular).

-->-- [[WesternAnimation/{{Family Guy}} Stewie Griffin to Brian]], in the ''[[AmericanNewspapers Washington Post]]'' Political Cartoon Universe

* Bill Mauldin, who is remembered more for his wartime strips than for his Pulitzer-winning postwar political cartoons. The most famous is a picture of the Lincoln Memorial sobbing after JFK's assassination.

* AccentuateTheNegative
* AnthropomorphicPersonification

* RippedFromTheHeadlines

Most British newspapers still have political cartoonists on the strength. A typical example would be Steve Bell, who draws both editorial cartoons and a long-running daily political strip called ''ComicStrip/{{If}}'' for the [[BritishNewspapers Guardian]]. Cartoonists of other political hues are also available.

[[quoteright:350:[[SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20080702.gif]]]]

-->-- [[WesternAnimation/{{Family Guy}} Stewie Griffin to Brian]], in the ''[[AmericanNewspapers Washington Post]]'' Political Cartoon Universe.

->''Oh god, let's go, quick. Here comes an overweight cat with [[{{Wingding Eyes}} dollar signs for eyes]] and a hat that says "Social Security" pouring a bucket that says "Alternative Minimum Tax" over a sad Statue of Liberty holding a "Democracy" umbrella.'' \\
--[[WesternAnimation/{{Family Guy}} Stewie Griffin to Brian]], in the ''[[AmericanNewspapers Washington Post]]'' Political Cartoon Universe.

The now-defunct UK magazine ''{{Punch}}'' was famous for its well-drawn cartoons for a long period, a number of them turning up in school history books.

* Thomas Nast, who created the [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/Tannhaeuser/Nast_AssInALionSkin.jpg Republican elephant and popularized the Democratic donkey]] (and created the modern image of Santa Claus)

--[[{{Family Guy}} Stewie Griffin to Brian]], in the ''[[AmericanNewspapers Washington Post]]'' Political Cartoon Universe.

* Theodor Geisel (aka DrSeuss) made these circa WWII, before moving to kids' books.

* AnthromorphicPersonification

* AnamorphicPersonification

* AnarmorphicPersonification

* {{Anvilicious}}