The group Veterans of Foreign Wars has condemned comedian Kathy Griffin's photograph, widely shared on social media, depicting her holding a bloody, decapitated head of President Donald Trump.
"The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. strongly condemns comedian Kathy Griffin's incredibly revolting attack on the president of the United States. Her apology is not accepted. What she did was not humorous nor should it be protected speech or expression. Playing to an audience with a severed head is what our enemies do. The USO should immediately end its relationship with her," VFW National Commander Brian Duffy said in a statement.
Griffin issued an apology, posting on her Instagram account: "I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong." But the backlash has been swift and serious. CNN announced that it would no longer feature Griffin on its New Year's Eve coverage with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who posted to Twitter that he was "appalled by the photo."
"It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate," Cooper said.
Trump tweetedabout the photograph on Wednesday: "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,
: "This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president."
Rachael Kalinyak is an editorial intern with Network Solutions.
