Texas Gov. Rick Perry is demanding an apology from a California newspaper that published a cartoon that seemed to link his push for less regulations to the recent fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14.

“The Sacramento Bee published a disgusting ‘cartoon’ mocking the deadly explosion in West. While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans. I have written the editor and asked that they apologize to the citizens of West,” Perry wrote on his official Facebook page.

An editor at the paper defended the cartoon.

“Jack Ohman’s cartoon of April 25 made a strong statement about Gov. Rick Perry’s disregard for worker safety, and his attempts to market Texas as a place where industries can thrive with few regulations,” said Stuart Leavenworth, the paper’s editorial page editor. “It is unfortunate that Gov. Perry, and some on the blogosphere, have attempted to interpret the cartoon as being disrespectful of the victims of this tragedy.”

Editorial Cartoonist Jack Ohman also responded to some reader criticism of his cartoon in a column Thursday.

Ohman said he stood by the cartoon and listed many reasons he believes Perry’s policies deserve scrutiny.

“The Texas governor’s campaigning notwithstanding, should I have used the explosion as a vehicle to illustrate my point? I did. I stand by it,” Ohman wrote.

The cartoon, published Thursday, shows Perry standing at a podium in front of signs about lower taxes and lower regulations proclaiming “Business is booming in Texas.”

More: Texas Governor Demands Apology Over Newspaper’s Plant Blast Cartoon