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NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, May 8, 2017, 8:40 AM

The internets most racist frog has croaked.

Innocuous cartoon turned co-opted hate symbol Pepe the Frog is dead, according to his long-suffering creator an attempt to lay to rest months of the grinning amphibian adorning alt-right and anti-Semitic memes.

Creator Matt Furie announced the untimely demise in a strip for Free Comic Book Day, drawing the sly, simpering frog in an open casket while characters from Furies book Boys Club pour whiskey on his expired face.

Furie previously lamented the hijacking of his chill frog-dude in an October piece for Time magazine, explaining the character hed debuted in 2006 had begun as an inside-joke and a symbol for feeling sad or feeling good and many things in between.

Pepe the Frog creator mourns that cartoon is hate symbol

But far-right internet users in recent months commandeered the anthropomorphic frog, swathing him in Ku Klux Klan robes and Nazi uniforms in memes posted to sites like 4chan and Reddit.

Its completely insane that Pepe has been labeled a symbol of hate, and that racists and anti-Semites are using a once peaceful frog-dude from my comic book as an icon of hate, Furie wrote. Its a nightmare, and the only thing I can do is see this as an opportunity to speak out against hate.

The Anti-Defamation League in September designated Pepe a hate symbol, with CEO Jonathan Greenblatt blasting anti-Semites for abusing the image of a cartoon character, one that might at first seem appealing, to harass and spread hatred on social media.

The Trump Train also ushered Pepe on board, with alt-right types using the frog in memes supporting President Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton.

Wendys Twitter account posts Pepe the Frog meme

Trump, in fact, shared another users Pepe meme in October manually retweeting an image of the frog wearing his classic golden helmet and standing behind a presidential podium.

Donald Trump Jr. and Roger Stone in light of Clinton placing half of Trump supporters into a basket of deplorables shared an Expendables-parody meme in September featuring Pepe, themselves and other Trump associates flanking the candidate.

Ive never even heard of Pepe the Frog, the Trump son later told Good Morning America. I bet 90% of your viewers havent heard of Pepe the Frog. I thought it was a frog in a wig. I thought it was funny. I had no idea that theres any connotation there.

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Hate symbol Pepe the Frog is dead, says long-suffering ...