The Facebook ad, which featured Ossoff alongside Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, said: “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia!”
Ossoff’s campaign noted that he and Schumer are both Jews.
“US Senator David Perdue’s digital attack announcement distorted my face to enlarge and spread my nose. I am a Jew. This is the oldest, most obvious and least original anti-Semitic trope in history,” said Ossoff.
“This was obviously accidental, but to ensure there is absolutely no confusion, we have immediately removed the Facebook image,” said the Perdue campaign spokeswoman. “Anyone who implies that this was more than an unintentional mistake is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue’s solid and consistent record of being firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred.”
Perdue’s campaign also noted that the senator co-sponsored a resolution last year “condemning all forms of anti-Semitism.”
“Senator Perdue has supported the Jewish community both in the fight against anti-Semitism and in its unwavering commitment to the security of the Jewish state of Israel,” Norm Coleman, national president of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a conservative advocacy group, tweeted. “Any attempt to charge him with charges of anti-Semitism is simply untrue.”
Dylan Williams, a senior official with the left-wing advocacy group J Street, asked in a tweet: “How much more right-wing hatred must we endure?
Ossoff himself asked Perdue to apologize. “Senator, literally no one believes your excuses,” said Ossoff. “It can begin with an unqualified apology to the Georgian Jewish community.”
This story has been updated with additional developments on Tuesday.
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