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Editorial cartooning

Zohran Mamdani and the Right-Wing Cartoonists

Published: December 14, 2025 1 minute 6 comments

Hank Kennedy for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) looks at the editoons of right-wing cartoonists during Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for mayor of New York City.

[FAIR is rated “Left-Center biased based on slightly favoring the left politically and High for factual reporting” according to Media Bias/Fact Check.]

Right-wing political cartoonists, for obvious reasons, had a strong desire to see the young, Muslim, democratic socialist lose the election. They utilized a variety of attacks on Mamdani, usually evoking either the Red Scare or Islamophobic tropes.

Among the far right to extreme right cartoonists name-checked are Michael Ramirez, Gary Varvel, Henry Payne, Steve Kelley, Gary McCoy, Tom Stiglich, and A. F. Branco.

A few days after Halloween, Ramirez drew the candidate as a Bela Lugosi–esque vampire with a hammer and sickle pendant (Creators Syndicate, 11/3/25).

Henry Payne, syndicated by Andrews McMeel (11/6/25), slurred Mamdani as a lethal antisemite, depicting him as a cab driver in a Red Army uniform with an “I [Skull] Jews” bumper sticker.

Cartoonist A.F. Branco may have made the most tasteless attacks on Mamdani… In October [link added], he drew a red plane labeled “Mamdani” with a Communist hammer and sickle on the side. The plane is about to crash into one of the Twin Towers, labeled “NY City.” The cartoon’s visibility increased after right-wing political pundit Larry Elder posted it on X (10/21/25).

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Comments 6

  1. If they ever came up with a right-wing cartoonist with a real sense of humor, we’d really be in trouble.

  2. The first thing that popped into my head when I had seen Mike Ramirez’s cartoon was the voice of Joe Flaherty as “Count Floyd”: “Ooooh, scary, kids!”

  3. These people are doing exactly what cartoonists are SUPPOSED TO DO, and have been doing for literally three HUNDRED years.

    Most of the cartoonists here slur Trump, and that’s a GOOD thing. Democratic Socialists aren’t usually all that democratic. Look at the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) calls Mamdani’s assembly district “the commie corridor” for a reason.

    Both extreme edges of the political spectrum are usually 100% right about each other and clueless about the middle.

    1. Yes, it is important we understand the terrifying dystopia to result if New York City is allowed to have [ checks notes ] grocery stores and lower bus fares.

    2. Presenting the DPRK as a cautionary example about the DSA is. . .less than convincing.

      I lived for over a year in a city with a communist mayor, and a city council consisting entirely of communists and socialists. I would say the highlight was the showing of Woodstock, projected onto a big white sheet hanging on the front of city hall, late one night during socialist youth week.

      1. Oh, Mark. How did you ever recover from that horror?

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