Never one to shy away from opining on global affairs, comedian Frankie Boyle used his Tuesday column to lambast the frontrunners in the race to succeed US President Barack Obama.
Having previously mused on the state of the Labour leadership race, Cameron's 'piggate' saga and the migration crisis engulfing Europe, Boyle directed his ire on the White House-hopefuls.
Writing in the Guardian he said Donald Trump's hair looked like a "slovenly, post-coital cat", Democrat Hillary Clinton's face would "haunt a lot of Libyans’ nightmares if they were still alive" and creationist Ben Carson made him "doubt evolution - but probably not in the way [you] think".
Reserving his most critical cartridge for business mogul and reality TV star Trump, Boyle wrote: "Somehow, I always imagine that Trump spends the evenings with his forehead pressed against the cold glass of an aquarium, talking telepathically to the tormented albino squid in which he has hidden his soul."
He added: "It seems that the electorate, possibly bored with rational thought, is toying with the idea of cutting out the middleman and just electing one of the business class through sheer force of Stockholm syndrome."
Hundreds of social media users piled in to praise Boyle for his frank assessment, in Britain and across the Atlantic, including campaigner Mark Steel.
Boyle is an outspoken critic on many other matters. Given the unapologetic comedian’s outspoken nature, we've compiled his ten most controversial quips on everything - from climate change, to the "X Factor"; from Jeremy Clarkson, to the Scottish independence referendum.
The Best Frankie Boyle Quotes
Lambasting Labour's leadership hopefuls(01 of10)
Open Image ModalBoyle had a few choice words for those running to be Ed Miliband's successor. He accused Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper of giving interviews "with the halting, guarded intonation of a hostage". He blasted Liz Kendall for having the "alarming air of an Apprentice candidate" but saved rare praise for Jeremy Corbyn, calling him "one of the few decent politicians remaining in the Labour party". (credit: PA/GETTY/REX)
Blistering battering of Branson(02 of10)
Open Image ModalCrippling critique of Cameron(03 of10)
Open Image ModalClegg's cutting castigation (04 of10)
Open Image ModalFuming at Farage(05 of10)
Open Image ModalExpletives for X Factor star(06 of10)
Open Image ModalMusings on the media(07 of10)
Open Image ModalBoyle was an unapologetic independence supporter in the run-up to last year's referendum in Scotland. In the aftermath of the result he criticised the media, accusing outlets of carrying a pro-Union bias in their reporting. On independence, he said: "I'm all for it. It won't happen. One of the reasons it won't happen is the media is just completely against it. There's a huge level of media bias." He also said that broadcast bosses were censoring comedy, and observed that current TV guides look like "the entertainment programme on a f****** cruise ship". (credit:JUAN MABROMATA via Getty Images)
Thundering thumping of two million Scots(08 of10)
Open Image ModalThe c-bomb is a certain favourite of Boyle's. But in a world first he used it to decry 2 million people, rather than just a choice selection of victims. Following Scotland's delivery of a slim 'no' majority in last year's independence referendum, Boyle blasted the two million Union supporters "c*nts". In a post on Twitter, he wrote: "I should have expected this, because if you'd asked me to estimate how many c*nts there were in Scotland I'd have said about 2 million." (credit:Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images)
Censure of Clarkson(09 of10)
Open Image ModalOusted Top Gear frontman Jeremy Clarkson didn't escape Boyle's firing line, after the motoring show presenter was revealed to have mumbled the N-word singing a nursery rhyme in an outtake. Boyle called for Clarkson to be sacked from his top position because he was a "cultural tumour". (credit:Brian Lawless/PA Wire)
Saving sweet words for Sturgeon(10 of10)
Open Image ModalThere is one person for whom Boyle has some rare praise, though. SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was the subject of "muted horror" in the English media, he claimed. "People feel much more comfortable with the Fifty Shades of Grey version of women’s liberation: possibly feeling life would be much simpler if the suffragettes hadn’t wanted the vote and just really enjoyed chaining themselves to railings," Boyle said. "It feels almost as if the establishment is still assessing her. Which of the traditional tactics to employ: scorn or vilification? Do you call her the most dangerous woman in Britain or stage a smear where she’s a gossipy woman? Decisions, decisions." (credit:ANDY BUCHANAN via Getty Images)