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The controversial cartoon.
Updated: 11:25 p.m., Saturday -- Detroit News columnist Henry Payne responds to sharp criticism about his cartoon in the National Review showing U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib with an exploding pager.
In an email to Deadline Detroit late Saturday night, Payne writes:
"Metro Detroit has an unfortunate history of intolerant leadership from Orville Hubbard to Rashida Tlaib. And cartoonists' pens have long lampooned their demagoguery."
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From Earlier Saturday
Amidst the rising tension over the conflicts in the Middle East, a controversial cartoon by a Detroit News columnist is stirring anger.
The cartoon by Detroit News auto columnist Henry Payne, who has a side gig as a cartoonist, shows Michigan U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib sitting at her desk with an exploding pager and a bubbled caption: "Odd. My pager just exploded." The cartoon appeared in The National Review, a conservative publication.
The cartoon is an obvious reference to pagers assigned to members of the Lebanese organization, Hezbollah, that blew up this week in Lebanon and wounded thousands and killed dozens including children. Israel is believed to be behind the explosions, though it has not publicly confirmed that.
Many see the cartoon as a suggestion that Tlaib is a member of Hezbollah, a poltical and militant group and close Iran ally the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.
On X, Tlaib, who has been a sharp critic of Israel and its war in Gaza, blasted the cartoon:
Rep. Rashida Tlaib
"Our community is already in so much pain right now. This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe. It's disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism."
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud posted on X:
"Absolutely disgusting. Anti-Arab bigotry & Islamophobia have become normalized in our media."
Democratic Vermont Congresswoman Becca Balint, a colleague of Tlaib, also wrote on X:
"Implying that a member of Congress is affiliated with a terrorist organization because she's Palestinian is downright racist, Islamophobic, and puts people in danger. The cartoon must be retracted with an apology to Rep. Tlaib and Muslim Americans."
Henry Payne (Detroit News photo)
Even Tlaib's critics felt it went too far.
Said Adolph Mongo, host of the podcast, "Detroit in Black and White:"
"I'm not a fan of hers. I think she's a phony when it comes to being perceived as a champion of Detroit and the Arab community. But the cartoon went too far. In this climate you've got enough nuts that would look at that and try to cause harm. Henry Payne should apologize, but he won't."
