Burgess Owens Slams ‘Pathetic’ Cartoonist Over Drawing Comparing Black Rep. To The KKK

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) slammed the “pathetic” Salt Lake Tribune and their political cartoonist over a drawing equating the black Republican Congressman to the Ku Klux Klan.

Cartoonist Pat Bagley, the longest “continuously employed full-time editorial cartoonist in America” according to his Twitter profile, had a piece published which compared Burgess sounding the alarm over the border crisis to a klansman warning about blacks in their neighborhood.

“The [Salt Lake Tribune] and [Bagley] compare me to the KKK, the radical hate group that terrorized me in my youth, because I am one of many sounding the alarm of the trauma being faced by women and children crossing the border,” Burgess tweeted. “This is pathetic.”

In an earlier tweet, Owens accused the cartoonist of “whitesplaining” and said he expected an apology but “won’t hold my breath.”

The @sltrib and @Patbagley compare me to the KKK, the radical hate group that terrorized me in my youth, because I am one of many sounding the alarm of the trauma being faced by women and children crossing the border. This is pathetic. #wokeracism pic.twitter.com/Tzcj4lPixL

— Burgess Owens (@BurgessOwens) April 15, 2021

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Bagley Defends Comparing Owens To The KKK

Owens, during a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border last week, warned of the dangers of the border crisis.

“Believe me, the borders are open right now,” he said. “We’re seeing every single day people coming here … and going to your neighborhoods.”

“This is not a border issue anymore, they’re coming to your neighborhoods, not knowing the language, not knowing the culture,” he added. “And there’s a cartel influence along the way.”

Bagley’s cartoon seems to be a response to those comments.

Numerous critics blasted Bagley for the cartoon comparing Burgess Owens, a black Republican, to the KKK.

The Utah GOP Delegation issued a joint statement condemning the cartoon as “repugnant,” while Congressman Ken Buck said the comparison was “unacceptable” and Owens “deserves an apology.”

But George Pyle of the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board said no apology is necessary as Bagley was simply voicing his opinion, one that “people were already thinking but hadn’t yet put into words.”

No apology is called for. Like all good opinion journalists, @Patbagley is just saying – and drawing – what people were already thinking but hadn’t yet put into words. https://t.co/PyDINVWYnl

— George Pyle (@DebateState) April 15, 2021

Bagley doubled down on his efforts, attacking critics on Twitter for their number of followers and “whitesplaining” that Owens’ words regarding the border crisis are stirring up “irrational fears” in white people.

“I can’t speak to the Black experience (obviously),” he tweeted. “But I can speak to the effect the words [Owens] used have on White people.”

“From time immemorial they have been used to stir up irrational fear and animosity,” he claimed.

I can’t speak to the Black experience (obviously). But I can speak to the effect the words @RepBurgessOwens used have on White people. From time immemorial they have been used to stir up irrational fear and animosity https://t.co/00WQUqxFW3

— Pat Bagley (@Patbagley) April 15, 2021

RELATED: Tim Scott Slams MSNBC’s Joy Reid: ‘Woke Supremacy Is As Bad As White Supremacy’

Racism Is Okay – If It’s Against Black Republicans

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) pointed out that there are other examples of liberals making such reprehensible comments.

Before this, it was @JoyAnnReid calling @votetimscott the ‘patina of diversity, now the @sltrib is comparing @BurgessOwens to the KKK, what’s next?

The one thing liberals hate more than a conservative is a Black Conservative, but I’m here to tell you, we’re not going anywhere. https://t.co/dRvq9bLgfF

— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) April 15, 2021

Indeed, Reid, the MSNBC anchor suggested Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) was simply a token Republican, prompting Scott to quip, “Woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy.”

“Woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy—we need to take that seriously… Matthew 5:44 [‘But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’] is still available to be read.”

–@SenatorTimScott, right on the money as usual pic.twitter.com/QxUlgyHnN3

— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) March 9, 2021

Burgess Owens expressed a similar theme in a statement to the Daily Caller regarding the cartoon comparing him to the KKK.

“I was raised in the 1960’s Deep South during a time when the KKK terrorized my neighborhood and the color of my skin literally dictated where I went to school,” he said.

“It was a time when racism was defined by arrogance and demeaning the character of any person of color,” Owens added. “They can try to hide behind a newspaper and fake ‘wokeness,’ but this is it.”