Editorial cartoons for Sept. 22, 2024: Campaign rhetoric, 2nd assassination attempt, undecided voters

A second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida raised more questions about the competence of the Secret Service. Both parties pointed fingers at the other over heated campaign rhetoric. The editorial cartoon gallery leads off with Walt Handelsman’s view that the only thing people should be aiming at politicians are their ballots.

Steve Breen sees political extremism as a pterodactyl with a rifle for a head. Michael Ramirez’s Grim Reaper mixes a cocktail of apathy, fanaticism and rage. Dana Summers draws Trump with bull’s-eyes on his suit.

To Drew Sheneman, Trump is the mad scientist who created the Frankenstein monster of political rhetoric. Nick Anderson gives it the split-screen treatment, with Trump on one side saying he lives under the threat of political violence, and a Haitian immigrant family on the other saying the same thing. Trump and running mate JD Vance continued to spread baseless stories of pet-eating Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.

Meanwhile, Bill Bramhall notes that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was snubbed by the national Teamsters Union, which did not endorse either candidate. Joey Weatherford and Dana Summers tweak Harris for doing some softball interviews with local media. Ramirez sees Harris’s liberal politics lurking beneath the surface like an iceberg.

Other topics in this week’s gallery include exploding pagers in Lebanon; Trump-backed legislation in Congress to outlaw voting by noncitizens, which is already against the law; and the arrest of entertainer Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York on sex trafficking charges.

Cartoons were drawn by Jack Ohman, Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and Mike Luckovich, Steve Breen and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.