Woke 'Franklin the Turtle' publisher and Democrats lose their minds after Hegseth shares hilarious meme

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared a meme on Sunday depicting the eponymous star of the children's book franchise "Franklin the Turtle" and the television adaptation "Franklin" dressed as an American soldier, perched on the side of a Bell UH-1 helicopter, and firing a rocket-propelled grenade at maritime drug-runners.

The AI-generated illustration, shared after lawmakers from both parties expressed concerns over American strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea, was made to look like the cover of a book in the series, complete with a title — "A Classic Franklin Story: Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists."

'We doubt Franklin the Turtle wants to be inclusive of drug cartels ... or laud the kindness and empathy of narco-terrorists.'

The viral meme, which Hegseth captioned "for your Christmas wish list" and had over 25.6 million impressions on X on Wednesday, evidently enraged various liberal media personalities and Democrats as well as the Toronto-based publisher of the Franklin books.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) also complained about the meme, stating on the Senate floor, "He wants to be taken seriously, but yesterday he posted a ridiculous tweet of a cartoon turtle firing on alleged drug traffickers — a sick parody of a well-known children's book. This man is a national embarrassment."

Kids Can Press said in a statement, "Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity."

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Photo by Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Image

"We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values," added the Canadian publisher.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to the publisher's condemnation, stating, "We doubt Franklin the Turtle wants to be inclusive of drug cartels ... or laud the kindness and empathy of narco-terrorists."

Unfortunately for Kids Can Press and Democratic critics, their condemnations of the fictional turtle's enlistment in MAGA memes appear to have only helped fuel the desire by trolls to depict Franklin in other provocative fake titles including, "Franklin Guards the Woman's Locker Room," "Franklin Gets Falsely Accused of War Crimes," "Franklin Assists with 20 Million Deportations," "Franklin Explains What Fauci Deserves," and "Franklin Learns about George Floyd's Autopsy."

One fake book cover titled "Franklin Gets a New Job" features an image of the turtle, this time dressed up as a Department of Homeland Security agent, arresting the eponymous Latin American star of the animated children's show "Dora the Explorer."

Another fake cover titled "Franklin and Pete Hegseth Laugh at Communists" features an image of the war secretary and the turtle riding their bikes past four slovenly leftists.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) also got in on the fun.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who was among the Democratic lawmakers who urged the military last month to "refuse" allegedly illegal orders from the Trump administration, called on Hegseth to resign on Tuesday in the wake of a report claiming that the war secretary ordered SEAL Team 6 to leave behind no survivors in a recent boat strike.

Luna responded with a fake Franklin cover titled "Franklin Shows His Classmates How to Identify a Spook." The fake cover features an image of the turtle directing his fellow woodland critters' attention to an apparent caricature of Slotkin on a chalkboard.

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