Skip to main content
The homepageVoxVox logo
The homepageVoxVox logo

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

The New Yorker’s Donald Trump cover is the perfect metaphor for his campaign

by German Lopez

Everything about the New Yorker’s Donald Trump cover, by Barry Blitt, is perfect:

The cover shows that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is making a big splash in the Republican primaries, but also that Trump is making this splash by inflicting a bit of pain on himself — just like a belly flop would.

After Trump received a lot of negative media attention for comments in which he called Mexican immigrants “rapists,” many businesses cut ties with him, including Univision, NBC Universal, and Macy’s.

But these losses haven’t stopped Trump from having a big impact in the Republican race. The RealClearPolitics average of polls show Trump barely trailing Jeb Bush — long expected to be the clear frontrunner — after a few polls put Trump in first place. Almost no one could have predicted this months ago.

The New Yorker cover gets at both of these conflicts. It’s really a fine piece of art.

Watch: Donald Trump is trolling the Republican Party

See More:

Most Popular

  1. Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
  2. We’re asking the wrong question about the hantavirus outbreak
  3. Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
  4. Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
  5. Are far-right politics just the new normal?

More in Politics

Politics
The real reason Americans hate the economy so muchThe real reason Americans hate the economy so much
Politics

Did decades of low inflation make the public far more unforgiving when it finally did surge?

By Andrew Prokop
Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expectedTrump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Politics

As Trump heads to China, attention and resources are being shifted from Asia to yet another war in the Middle East.

By Joshua Keating
Politics
Are far-right politics just the new normal?Are far-right politics just the new normal?
Politics

Liberals are preparing for a longer war with right-wing populists than they once expected.

By Zack Beauchamp
The Logoff
Flavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA headFlavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA head
The Logoff

Why Marty Makary is out at the FDA, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymanderVirginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
Politics

Democrats just handed the Supreme Court’s Republicans a loaded weapon.

By Ian Millhiser