The Toronto Sun has apologized for an editorial cartoon published on Thursday that critics have called antisemitic for its depiction of Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.
The cartoon was drawn by a U.S.-based artist and depicts Zelensky, who is Jewish, picking the pocket of U.S. President Joe Biden while the two walk down a hallway together.
The drawing also exaggerates the facial features of Zelensky in a manner akin to tropes commonly used in other antisemitic drawings.
The cartoon could be seen on the Sun’s website on Thursday morning, but was removed hours later, with the Sun’s editor-in-chief Adrienne Batra, issuing an apology.
“Earlier this week, we ran a cartoon depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy picking the pocket of U.S. President Joe Biden. The cartoon did not meet our editorial standards, we were wrong to run it and we apologize. It falsely implied American aid to Ukraine involves theft,” reads Batra’s apology.
“It was hurtful to Canadians of Ukrainian origin, and to all Ukrainians, fighting an existential struggle against Russian aggression. It also used anti-Semitic stereotypes in its depiction of Zelenskiy. It was hurtful to Canadians of Jewish origin, and to the Jewish people, currently under assault from a global wave of antisemitism. We failed them and we failed all of you, our readers. The syndicated cartoonist behind the cartoon will no longer run in our newspaper. We promise to do better in the future.”
Additionally, the cartoon has been criticized for propping up Russian propaganda and aiding the growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment, regarding financial support for them to help against the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress said they were “disgusted by the disgraceful cartoon,” likening it to hateful Kremlin-inspired propaganda.
The cartoon was a reference to the recent trip that Zelensky made to Washington D.C. to secure more funding and aid in their fight against Russia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the Sun for publishing such a cartoon, especially during a time of growing antisemitism in Canada, saying it’s up to all Canadians to make sure that they are there for one another.
“But I also need to make sure we are calling out incidents of antisemitism wherever they rear their heads. And on that, specifically, the Toronto Sun editorial cartoon — which promoted, which published the worst kind of antisemitic content — was absolutely unacceptable,” said Trudeau, following a housing announcement in Toronto on Thursday.
One reader wrote a letter to Batra, saying that the paper was sounding “just like Russian ‘Trumped-up’ stooges,” according to the Toronto Star.
The Sun responded by saying that “editorial cartoons are meant to exaggerate sentiment and like it or not, many Americans feel this way.”
Over the past several weeks, the Sun has also run numerous editorials condemning the rise of antisemitism in Canada, demanding more politicians at every level of government address the issue and publicly denounce these sentiments.
There have been 56 reports of antisemitic hate crimes since Oct. 7, when the Israel-Hamas war first began, according to Toronto police.
That number represents 53% of all reported hate crimes since Oct. 7.
