‘A lapse in judgment’: Cartoon in GOP newsletter bashed by suburban Democrats and Republicans

Vernon Township Republican organization officials on Wednesday called their publication of a much-criticized political cartoon that made light of domestic violence “a lapse in judgment.”

“Internal documents are often times prepared in haste, without enough forethought, especially without intent for public consumption,” the Buffalo Grove-based group said in a prepared statement. “We will improve our procedures moving forward.”

The organization plans to donate $250 to A Safe Place to support its work with victims of domestic violence in Lake County, according to the statement.

Township GOP Chair Jay Swidler declined to comment further.

The two-panel cartoon, which the group published this month in an electronic newsletter, depicts a visibly injured woman wearing a “Vote Blue” T-shirt telling an anthropomorphic donkey with tattoos reading “war,” “open border” “crime” and more that she won’t leave him “as long as I can have abortions.”

Officials from both parties blasted the cartoon and the group for publishing it.

Democratic Lake County Circuit Court Clerk Erin Cartwright Weinstein, a former Lake County prosecutor who handled many domestic abuse cases, said she was “truly disgusted” that the GOP made a joke out of domestic violence.

“This is a serious issue in our society, and one of the most difficult issues for our community to address,” Weinstein said in an email. “This is not funny under any circumstances.”

Democratic Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said she was “deeply dismayed” by the cartoon. She noted that 22 Lake County residents — ranging in age from 2 to 79 — have died as the result of domestic violence since 2021.

“These are real lives that have been tragically cut short by their loved ones,” Banek said in an email. “To mock their suffering in any form is utterly despicable.”

Democratic Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart lashed out at Republicans for publishing the piece, too.

“This is a stunning and disgusting moment for Lake County Republicans,” Rinehart said in a news release. “Domestic violence is no laughing matter. Every Republican candidate should denounce this sexist, racist, and Trump-like cartoon that dismisses violence against women while ridiculing those who want reproductive rights.”

Rinehart’s Republican challenger in the Nov. 5 election, Mary Cole, also condemned the cartoon’s publication. A former domestic violence victim’s advocate who herself was a victim, Cole said domestic violence “needs to be taken seriously and not reduced to political fodder.”

Jim Carris, a Republican candidate for the 10th Congressional District seat, said turning domestic violence into a joke and using it as a political tool “trivializes a serious issue affecting many families in our community and is entirely in bad taste.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, the incumbent in the 10th, said he wasn’t surprised “to see local MAGA Republicans echoing the vile rhetoric of the candidate at the top of the ticket.”