Sen. David Perdue’s campaign (Republican of Georgia) removed an ad showing his Democratic opponent in the 2020 race, who is Jewish, with a bigger nose.
Listed as inactive by Facebook ad data, the ad solicited donations for Perdue’s campaign against Jon Ossoff.
“Democrats are trying to buy Georgia!” the ad said, accompanied by photos of Ossoff and the Senate minority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck Schumer Republican Senators push for stimulus checks to be carried out on nearly 2 million people excluded from the American White House, Congress talks about the upcoming coronavirus relief bill as COVID-19 continues to increase Schumer announces that Blue Jays will play the season in Buffalo MORE (DN.Y.), who is also a Jew.
The Ossoff image used in the ad comes from a Reuters Photo 2017, but the ad appears to have lengthened and widened its nose, three graphic design experts he said to the forward.
A spokesperson for the Perdue campaign told The Hill in a statement that the issue was “handled by a third-party provider” and “accidental” and that the photo was “immediately removed” from Facebook.
“In the graphic design process handled by a third-party vendor, the photo was resized and a filter applied, which appears to have caused an unintended error that distorted the image,” the spokesperson said. “Obviously, this was accidental, but to ensure there is absolutely no confusion, we have immediately removed the Facebook image.”
“Anyone who implies that this was more than an unintentional mistake is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue’s strong and consistent record of being firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson noted that Perdue co-sponsored a resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and wrote to national leaders condemning anti-Semitism and calling for more security for Jewish organizations.
The ad began running on July 22 and had the potential to reach more than 1 million people. Facebook ad data shows that 3,000 to 4,000 impressions were made before they were removed.
Ossoff responded to the Forward story in a tweet, saying the issue is “the oldest, most obvious, and least original anti-Semitic trope in history.”
“Senator, literally no one believes your excuses,” he posted.
US Senator David Perdue’s digital attack announcement distorted my face to enlarge and extend my nose.
I am Jewish.
This is the oldest, most obvious and least original anti-Semitic trope in history.
Senator, literally no one believes your excuses. Https://t.co/PiA7P4O4M2
– Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) July 28, 2020
Ossoff and Perdue will face off in the November election, which The Cook Political Report called a launch race.
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