The Deconstruction of the US Government During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Pictorial Metaphor -- Take Wuhe Qilin CG Cartoon “White House Painter” as an Example

The rise of social media and the advancement of digital technology have opened new avenues for the global dissemination of digital political cartoons and the construction of public opinion fields. Digital political cartoons consistently engage in the construction of ideology-laden metaphors, employing sophisticated artistic techniques and rich visual discourse to generate significant value in international communication and public opinion guidance. They also provide new perspectives and channels for the construction and expression of national image. This paper adopts a visual metaphor research approach to analyze the types of image metaphors utilized in Wuhe Qilin's digital political cartoon White House Painter. Through five distinct metaphorical categories—“text-derived visual metaphor,” “metaphor of difference,” “light metaphor,” “color metaphor,” and “multi-element interaction metaphor”—the study examines its content presentation, value orientation, and communicative effects. It further explores diverse forms of deconstructing the U.S. national image and offers new insights for the construction and expression of China's national image within social networks.