Controversial Donald Trump News Covers Released
February 4, 2017
Donald Trump has recently issued a controversial executive order that restricts the flow of immigration into the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. The order also blocks all refugees for 120 days ad bans Syrian refugee resettlement indefinitely.
Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, has made recent headlines based on their newest cover image to be published February 4, 2017. The cover depicts Trump wielding a beheaded Statue of Liberty along with the murder weapon. Evidently, this cover was made to implicate that Trump is murdering freedom and democracy in his presidency.
The cover was designed by Edel Rodriguez, a U.S. immigrant originating from Cuba. When asked about the cover, Rodriguez humorously commented, “If I wanted to live in a dictatorship, I’d live in Cuba… it’s much warmer.”
Rodriguez’s image has the words “AMERICA FIRST” written on it, which is not only a phrase that Trump used in his inaugural address, but is also the name of a pre-WW2 committee that sought to keep America out of the upcoming WW2. This is notable because the America First Committee wanted to keep America out of the war, even if it meant “doing business with the Nazis.”
Interestingly, Der Spiegel is certainly not the only news magazine to be protesting Trump. The New Yorker’s next cover image by John W. Tomac will be showcasing the Statue of Liberty’s famed flame of liberty extinguished in what they title “Liberty’s Flameout.”
The New Yorker, joined by Vanity Fair are also rebelling against the Trump Administration by opting out of the White House Correspondents Dinner, of which they both usually sponsor.
In response to questions about the recent depictions of the Statue of Liberty, Tomac notes that “It used to be that the Statue of Liberty, and her shining torch, was the vision that welcomed new immigrants. Now it seems that we are turning off the light.”