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Politico has removed a controversial cartoon criticized for its seemingly anti-Semitic portrayal of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a backlash from its audience.
The illustration, created by cartoonist Sean Delonas, depicted the two leaders draped in blood-stained Jewish prayer shawls and yarmulkes, seated in a rowboat poised precariously at the brink of a waterfall.
Included in the scene are Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, the latter shown clutching a bottle of blood.
Netanyahu is caricatured with an exaggerated nose, reminiscent of derogatory depictions from Nazi-era propaganda, seated at a table smeared with blood and surrounded by piles of money.
Beside him, Trump is illustrated as noticeably overweight, sporting an orange-hued complexion, and playing a lute-like instrument.
The word Amalek is written in the background of the cartoon, a direct reference to the arch-enemy of ancient Israel as depicted in the Hebrew Bible.
The sketch appears to be a recreation of Hieronymus Bosch’s painting from the late 1490s called Ship of Fools.
Delonas named the boat in his rendition the ‘Ship of Neocons’, a reference to the neoconservatism or neocon movement of the 1970s.
Politico has deleted an apparently anti-Semitic cartoon depicting President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu covered in blood. Trump is seen speaking at an event in Miami on Friday
The sketch, drawn by cartoonist Sean Delonas, depicted Netanyahu (pictured on March 22 at the site where an Iranian ballistic missile struck) with an overly large nose while dining at a blood-covered table surrounded by bags of money
The neocon movement supported strong US military power and pushed for an aggressive, interventionist approach to foreign policy that was aimed at spreading democracy.
Politico was met with major backlash online after it included Delonas’s sketch in the Cartoon Carousel on its website Friday. The carousel displays a collection of the ‘best’ political cartoons of the week.
‘Politico is trash. Sean Delonas should be fired and blackballed,’ one critic wrote on X in response to the ‘vile’ cartoon.
Another echoed: ‘One of the worst and most anti-Semitic cartoons I have seen from a prominent political outlet in my lifetime.
‘Shame on the cartoonist Sean Delonas. No accident this is being posted on the eve of Passover. Shame on Politico.’
‘Truly disturbing but not surprising from Politico – they are extreme propaganda and it’s only getting worse,’ a third person added.
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer even commented on the sketch, calling it ‘disgusting.’
Politico has since removed the drawing from its website, replacing it instead with a note from the editor.
‘We removed a cartoon by independent cartoonist Sean Delonas from this week’s gallery after weighing comments from readers that it did not meet our standards,’ the note stated.
Sean Delonas, in his Politco cartoon, appeared to be recreating Hieronymus Bosch’s painting from the late 1490s called Ship of Fools, which is shown above
President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida on December 29, 2025
‘Sharp arguments and provocative imagery in political cartoons are within bounds.
‘Images that could be reasonably interpreted to rely on ethnic stereotypes or employing tropes that have been involved in historically hateful ways are not.’
The statement further noted that the cartoon round–up is ‘designed to be a representation of a broad range of opinions –– not an endorsement of the views of any particular cartoon or cartoonist.’
Politico published the cartoon amid the war in Iran, which began last month with US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states.
Israel also invaded Lebanon while targeting the Iranian-backed terror group, Hezbollah.
Delonas, in a post on his blog, responded to the criticism. He wrote: ‘The neocons have been criticizing me and fellow journalists lately for our anti-war stance.’
He responded to the claims that Netanyahu had an ‘exaggerated’ nose in the sketch, noting that ‘all the figures have exaggerated features — it’s a cartoon.’
‘I drew more exaggerated noses on Senator Ted Cruz and the GOP elephants in the cartoon than on Bibi. Is that anti-Semitic as well?’ he questioned.
Addressing the use of the word Amalek, Delonas said: ‘A recent comment by Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran was, “Remember what Amalek did to you. We remember and we act.” Am I not allowed to quote Bibi’s religious references? I used “Amalek” because Bibi used it.’
The Daily Mail has approached Politico, the White House, and reps for Cruz and Graham for comment.
Smoke rises following an Iranian missile strike in Southern Israel on Sunday, March 29, 2026
Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon.
He said Israel would expand what he called the ‘existing security strip’ in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.
‘We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,’ he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that ‘Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us.’ There were no immediate details.
In Lebanon, officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting since the Iran war began.
Trump last week said Iran wants a deal to end the nearly four-week war, but Tehran’s top diplomat has rejected having any talks with Washington.
Trump, whose daily statements have swung wildly from threatening to conciliatory, said talks to end the war were ongoing with Iran, but that officials in Tehran were covering them up out of fear.
‘They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly,’ Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.
‘But they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,’ he said. ‘They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.’
Tehran’s top diplomat slapped down Trump’s comments, saying the country did not intend to negotiate.
‘We seek an end to the war on our own terms, of course, and in a way that it will not be repeated here again,’ Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV.