Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday apologised for a political cartoon of a chimpanzee seen by critics as a racist depiction of President Barack Obama. "Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people," Murdoch said in a statement on the website of his tabloid The New York Post, which printed the cartoon. "Today I want to personally apologise."
Murdoch said the cartoon poked fun at the economic stimulus plan pushed by Obama, America's first black president. It "was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately it was interpreted by many as such," Murdoch said.
The cartoon featured Travis, a real-life chimpanzee shot last week by police in Connecticut, near New York, after attacking a woman. In the drawing, two policeman stand over the chimp's body. One says: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
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