Republican Senator David Perdue is running for re-election this November in Georgia.
In a recent online ad, he showed a picture of his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, alongside Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, both of whom are Jewish.
The internet erupted in outrage, however, when it was noticed that Perdue's campaign had manipulated the image of Ossoff to make his nose appear larger, an infamous anti-semitic trope.
"The ad called for donations to Perdue, a Republican, by claiming that 'Democrats are trying to buy Georgia.'"
"It uses black-and-white photos of Ossoff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is also Jewish, that have been Photoshopped to appear as if they were pulled from an old television set with poor reception."
"But the Ossoff image, which was adapted from a 2017 Reuters photo of him, was also changed by having his nose lengthened and widened, even as other parts of his face stayed the same size and proportions, three graphic design experts told the Forward."
Perdue's campaign claims the offensive ad was "accidental," but many people with photoshop experience were doubtufl.
The photo manipulation was so shameless that Ossoff felt compelled to respond online, calling out Perdue's excuses.
Perdue's campaign issued a statement, saying:
"In the graphic design process handled by an outside vendor, the photo was resized and a filter was applied, which appears to have caused an unintentional error that distorted the image."
Obviously, this was accidental, but to ensure there is absolutely no confusion, we have immediately removed the image from Facebook."
"Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue's strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate."
This is far from Perdue's only controversy from the Senate.
On Twitter, very few were buying Perdue's excuses.
Photo editors made note of how Ossoff's nose had been changed without the rest of the image being distorted.
Many called for Perdue's removal from office.
Anti-semitism is never acceptable, certainly not from a sitting U.S. Senator!
Republican Perdue's Senate ad joins criticism that the GOP darkened Democratic candidate Jaime Harrison's skin for ads for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
The GOP was previously cited with darkening Barack Obama's skin color for campaign ads.
Voters will hopefully remember these incidents come November, when the 2020 elections will decide whether Perdue and Graham remain in office.
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