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Are kids off limits for political cartoons?

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to crowd during a campaign rally at Ottawa Farms December 19, 2015 in Bloomingdale, Georgia.
Nicholas Pilch/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to crowd during a campaign rally at Ottawa Farms December 19, 2015 in Bloomingdale, Georgia.

Yesterday The Washington Post put up a cartoon that depicted Ted Cruz's two daughters as trained monkeys, in response to a recent Christmas ad that featured the Senator with his family.

Yesterday The Washington Post put up a

that depicted Ted Cruz's two daughters as trained monkeys, in response to a recent Christmas ad that featured the Senator with his family.

The parody drew backlash from Cruz and other Republicans. Those against the cartoon said that children should be left out of any ads meant to slight the candidate's themselves.

While the artist Ann Telnaes defended her cartoon by implying that Cruz's daughters being in a political ad meant they were fair game for parody, The Post decided to pull it from their editorial section.

Washington Post Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said, "It’s generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree."

Where should the line be drawn when it comes to political cartoons? Should candidates be aware that their children are fair game if they're going to be a part of the campaign? Or should cartoonists and publications use more scrutiny when it comes to this sort of parody?

Guest:

David Jackson, White House correspondent for USA Today who has been following the story

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