Far-left cartoonist accused of targeting Kavanaugh's 10-year-old daughter in vicious cartoon

A controversial cartoon depicts Brett Kavanaugh's daughter, Liza, saying her prayers. (Chris Britt/Facebook)

A left-wing editorial cartoonist faced backlash over the weekend for drawing a cartoon that critics say mocked Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's 10-year-old daughter, Liza.

The cartoon by Chris Britt depicted the girl saying, "Dear God, please forgive my angry, lying, alcoholic father for sexually assaulting Dr. [Christine] Ford," while praying before bed.

In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Kavanaugh told lawmakers that Liza had said to her mother, Ashley, that "we should pray" for Ford. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the early 1980s, when they were both in high school.

Liza's older sister, Margaret, is 13.

The cartoon displayed Friday's date as well as the name of the Illinois Times, an alternative weekly newspaper based in Springfield. However, it gained wider notice on Sunday, when an anonymous Twitter user said it "contravenes every standard of decency in our society" and asked the paper to "[p]lease remove it."

In a Facebook statement Monday, the Illinois Times said Britt was "a regular contributor," but "not an employee." The paper added that the cartoon was posted on Britt's Facebook page and "did not appear in our publication or on our website.

"The Illinois Times name should not have appeared on the cartoon in question and we have asked Chris Britt to remove it."

An email to Britt requesting comment was not immediately returned. On his Facebook page, Britt responded to one critic by saying "I'm not the one who brought up his children. Brett 'I LOVE BEER' Kavanaugh brought them up." The page was later removed from public view.

A biography of Britt on the Creators Syndicate website called him "a self-described liberal [who] nevertheless delights in skewering deserving politicians of every persuasion." He has previously drawn for The Seattle Times, the Houston Post, The News-Tribune of Tacoma, Wash. and the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., from where he was laid off in January 2012.

Prior to the cartoon of Kavanaugh's daughter, Creators Syndicate published seven cartoons by Britt related to the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. One cartoon that was published by the Illinois Times on Sept. 20 shows Kavanaugh waiting at a "predator bus stop" for a vehicle driven by President Trump and carrying Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The vehicle was labed "Trash the Women Tour" and was emblazoned with bumper stickers, some of which read "Women aren't people" and "Attempted rape can be quite great."