Obama's staff blasts "tasteless" New Yorker cartoon

New York, July 14 : A cartoon appearing in the New Yorker magazine, which depicts Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his wife Michelle celebrating their entry into the Oval Office with a fist bump, has been described by his campaign team as "tasteless and offensive".

The cartoon depicts the fist bump in the Oval Office as taking place in front of a portrait of Osama bin Laden and an American flag burning in the fireplace.

Senator Obama appears in traditional dress reminiscent of a picture of him dressed in a Somali robe and turban - which appeared on the Drudge Report website in February.

His wife Michelle is seen wearing combat fatigues and with machinegun slung over her shoulder. While Obama said: "I have no response to that" - his campaign didn't mince its words.

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," news.com.au quoted spokesman Bill Burton, as saying in a statement.

"We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it's tasteless and offensive," a spokesman for Senator McCain was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, as saying.

ANI