In a 2021 column for "The New York Times", Charles M. Blow wrote that Pepé normalized rape culture. Linda Jones Clough, the daughter of Pepe's creator, says she doesn't think anyone would watch Pepe cartoons and be inspired to rape someone, but she saw the choice to give him a break for a while as an appropriate decision. Clough also suggested something that reflected her father's vision, to write him as a job-seeker who keeps getting rejected, but changes up his routine thinking he's perfect.