Trump, Putin imagined as passionate gay lovers in casually homophobic NYT cartoon (VIDEO)

A cartoon published by the New York Times offers a fresh and nuanced take on Russiagate, with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin engaging in a hot, rainbow-filled man-romance. It’s funny because they’re gay. See?

The newspaper of note, whose op-ed pages are regularly populated with breathless commentaries about prejudice faced by the LGBTQ community, has taken a remarkably puerile and casually homophobic approach to illustrating US President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-proven collusion with Russia’s leader.

It peddles a cartoon about “Mr. Trump’s not-so-secret admiration” for Putin. According to a synopsis published by the New York Times, the animated short “plays out in a teenager’s bedroom, where the fantasies of this forbidden romance come to life.”

Created by critically-acclaimed animator Bill Plympton, the cartoon is part of a three-part series entitled ‘Trump Bites’ which “riffs on Mr. Trump’s absurd utterances to illustrate the president’s tumultuous inner life of paranoia, narcissism and xenophobia.”

Yes, this animated gay (teen?) romance was inspired by Trump’s own utterances which – let the record show – clearly demonstrate that Trump has said nice things about Putin, and vice versa. How gay is that? So, so gay. Thank goodness the New York Times published this brave cartoon, which exposes Trump’s “paranoia, narcissism and xenophobia” for all to see.

But not everyone was enamoured by the cartoon, which features Trump and Putin riding a unicorn through clouds of hearts and rainbows, climaxing with the two leaders exploring each other’s mouth-caves with their super gay tongues.

“Lol it's funny because they're gay – brilliant, cutting edge commentary from the NYT,” one Twitter user responded. “So making gay jokes is ok now because you don't like the guy. Good work, NYT,” sarcastically wrote another.

“Ha ha they are gay. Do you not see how problematic this is @nytopinion during pride month of all times. You make me sick,” yet another Twitter user – who clearly can’t take a joke – commented.

The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald – who happens to be gay – was also not amused, obviously indicative of his own inner yearnings to get physical with Putin (we’re waiting for the cartoon, NYT!): “The NYT publishes an animated film mocking Trump and Putin for being homosexual lovers, using one disgusting gay stereotype after the next to do it. I'm sure they'll claim some LGBT person was involved,” Greenwald wrote on Twitter. “Homophobia for progressive messaging is still bigotry.”

Less than a week ago, the New York Times published an op-ed which argued that “especially in the Trump era, it’s becoming harder for people who don’t present as the ‘right’ kind of queer-identified person to feel welcome. They sense an encroaching ‘homonormativity,’ the idea that there is one acceptable mode — white, male, gay — with everyone else marginalized or silenced.”

So maybe Trump and Putin’s passionate homosexual love is funny because they’re both white males who promote “homonormativity” in the LGBTQ community? Yes, maybe.

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