Overview

• A July 7 editorial cartoon by Pulitzer Prize–winner Adam Zyglis showed a MAGA-clad man drowning in Texas floodwaters with a “Gov’t is the problem not the solution” caption.
• Social media users and the Erie County Republican Committee labeled the image “twisted” and “shameful,” demanding the paper apologize and remove the cartoon.
• Zyglis defended his work on Instagram, writing “Tomorrow’s lines… that argument’s gone in a flash” as a critique of political hypocrisy.
• Organizers called off a planned journalism fundraiser in Buffalo after Zyglis received death threats linked to the cartoon’s backlash.
• The Buffalo News has stood by the cartoon and issued no apology or retraction, fueling debate over media ethics and press freedom.