City Commissioner Responds to Critical Political Cartoon
Gainesville City Commissioner Bryan Eastman issued a response on Instagram yesterday to a critical drawing by political cartoonist Jake Fuller.
Eastman often makes statements in city meetings and posts on Instagram relating to Gainesville Regional Utilities, prompting Fuller to make a cartoon depicting him as a liar.
Eastman reposted Fuller’s cartoon on his Instagram, writing in the caption, “I must be doing something right: I've been cartooned by local conservative cartoonist Jake Fuller. I've been outspoken about the governor's takeover of our city utilities, and the response hasn't been to counter my points. Instead, it's been ‘fake news’ from the people profiting off the takeover. They can't refute my arguments or the statistics, almost all of which come from their own reports. So the next best thing? Try to caricature me. I'll take it as a sign that the truth is hitting close to home.”
Fuller’s political cartoon was hosted on the Alachua Chronicle, like many of his other drawings.
Commenters on Eastman’s Instagram disparaged the cartoon, calling it “unfunny” and “pathetic,” while most commenters on the Alachua Chronicle showed support for the cartoon, calling Eastman “Lyin’ Bryan” or saying he should go to law school to “become a professional paid liar.”
Fuller used to work for the Gainesville Sun but was fired after depicting the Springs County Movement and the Alachua County Board of Commissioners as a domestic violence incident.
According to Fuller, who gave an interview on TV20 about his firing, a city commissioner saw the cartoon and complained to the Sun because of a recent double homicide, which he implied was related to domestic violence. Fuller said he submitted the cartoon prior to the double homicide.
