New York Newspaper Apologizes For Running Charlie Kirk Cartoon After It Sparks GOP Calls For Boycott

Newsday, a paper based out of Long Island, apologized amid calls from GOP leaders for a boycott after publishing a cartoon by former Pulitzer finalist Chip Bok about the murder of far-right-activist Charlie Kirk.

The cartoon depicts an empty chair with blood spattered above it, with an arrow linking the words “Turning Point USA”—Kirk’s organization—to the chair.

The cartoon garnered attention after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman called its publication "unconscionable" in a post on X:

"The unconscionable cartoon in Newsday trivializing the assassination of Charlie Kirk is so over the top despicable that it is shocking even for the majority of us who realized long ago that Newsday abandoned any pretension of fairness. Cancel Newsday!"

You can see the cartoon below.

Newsday

New York Republican Nick LaLota said "mocking Charlie Kirk's assassination is vile" and called for the paper to fire Bok, even though Bok is not employed by Newsday.

Additionally, Suffolk County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Garcia called for a boycott of the paper and urged Newsday to remove the cartoon from its platforms, terminate Bok's contract, and apologize to Kirk's family.

He added:

"Until these actions are taken, we call on advertisers and subscribers to boycott Newsday. Do not support a publication that normalizes hate and endangers lives."

"It's this type of hate - by media outlets like Newsday and others, social media platforms, and national, state, and local Democrat officials that instill political violence against those they disagree with."

Other conservatives have also lashed out at the publication.

Newsday later published an official apology:

"On Saturday, Newsday published a syndicated editorial cartoon referring to the assassination of Charlie Kirk that was insensitive and offensive."

"We deeply regret this mistake and sincerely apologize to the family of Charlie Kirk and to all. We made an error in judgment. The cartoon has been removed from our digital platforms."

The paper added that Bok's cartoon suggested that the assassination "might be a turning point for healing our nation's divide," noting that it was "inappropriate and should never have been published in Newsday."

Media outlets have faced scathing criticism from conservatives in the wake of Kirk's assassination and some journalists have even been dismissed from their jobs for quoting Kirk's own words.

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah said she was dismissed following social media posts on gun control and race after Kirk’s assassination. She called her firing "a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold.”

Conservatives have also vowed to crack down on social media posts about Kirk's killing.

Last week, Louisiana Republican Representative Clay Higgins said he would use his "Congressional authority" to get anyone who "belittled" Kirk's assassination banned from all social media platforms for life.

Higgins, ignoring Kirk's rhetoric that made him one of the most high-profile white supremacists in the country, vowed there would be consequences for anyone "celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man who dedicated his whole life to delivering respectful conservative truth into the hearts of liberal enclave universities."