Street artist Sabo lampooned Pete Buttigieg with Mad Magazine Cartoon only days after President Donald Trump laughed off the candidacy of “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg by comparing the former Indiana mayor to the cartoon character Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine fame.
Politico sat down with the president to see what he thought of the field of two dozen Democrats vying with each other to win the Democrat nomination for 2020. And when it came to Buttigieg, Trump was utterly dismissive.
“Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” Trump said with Politico adding the Trump compared Buttigieg “to the iconic boyish Mad Magazine cartoon character.”
Right away, street artist Sabo jumped to his work and drove the comparison home.
Street artist Sabo lampooned Pete Buttigieg with Mad Magazine Cartoon. Courtesy SABO/unsavoryagents.com
Oddly, Buttigieg claimed he never heard of the iconic cartoon character. Politico tracked him down on Friday and Buttigieg replied, “I’ll be honest. I had to Google that. I guess it’s just a generational thing. I didn’t get the reference. It’s kind of funny, I guess. But he’s also the president of the United States, and I’m surprised he’s not spending more time trying to salvage this China deal.”
It seems hard to believe that an American man born in 1982 could never have heard of Mad Magazine’s dopey mascot, Alfred E. Neuman.
The venerable humor magazine, which is a cultural touchstone and has been in constant production since 1952, had the perfect response to Buttigieg’s exclamation of sheer ignorance of the character. Old Alfred E. said he never heard of Buttigieg, either.
Who’s Pete Buttigieg? Must be a generational thing.
— MAD Magazine (@MADmagazine) May 11, 2019
Many others also took to Twitter to slam Buttigieg over his lack of enlightenment.
Makes sense. I’m two years younger than Pete. When normal kids were reading MAD magazine @PeteButtigieg’s dad probably had him memorizing The Communist Manifesto. https://t.co/1vuz55toKh
— Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) May 11, 2019
1. Trump's Pete Buttigieg/Alfred E. Neuman comparison is hilarious.
2. It's a dated reference, and Buttigieg was smart to get in a dig at Trump's age.
3. But Trump said it, so everyone now gets the reference.
4. The comparison, even if dated, will stick because it's true.
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) May 11, 2019
This is a side-by-side of the exact moment that Mayor Pete was asked about Trump’s Alfred E. Neuman nickname for him and a picture of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman.
I report. You decide. pic.twitter.com/ti6iTnMMy4
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) May 11, 2019
Trump just might be a genius https://t.co/E3xm2mcslc
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) May 11, 2019
Nailed It! President Trump Introduces New Nickname for Mayor Pete Buttigieg — Alfred E. Neuman from Mad Magazine https://t.co/SLvXl8vSH7 pic.twitter.com/LImzlJ158i
— Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) May 11, 2019
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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