City Leaders Condemn "new Yorker" Obama Cartoon

Bill Perkins

Community leaders gathered in Midtown Manhattan Tuesday to condemn the "New Yorker" for a cover cartoon of Barack and Michelle Obama.

They protested outside the magazine's offices.

The presumptive presidential candidate is depicted in Muslim clothing in the Oval Office, fist-pumping his gun-toting wife. A portrait of Osama Bin Laden hangs above the fireplace, in which an American flag burns.

The magazine's editor said the cartoon was meant to be satirical, but many still say it is just offensive.

"We would like to believe that they did not purposely resurrect that which we as a country have been fighting to overcome,” said Democratic Manhattan State Senator Bill Perkins. “That which we have been fighting to change was once again brought to our face in the front cover of this magazine."

The cover has drawn criticism from both presidential campaigns.

Obama said he had no response.