Just about every campaign cycle, Republicans get caught altering images of one or more Black Democrats to darken their skin. But that’s not the only kind of bigotry Republicans like to appeal to, as an ad from Georgia Sen. David Perdue just showed. There's also anti-Semitism.
A Facebook ad from Perdue’s campaign places black-and-white images of his opponent, Jon Ossoff, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer together, with text saying “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia.” Putting two Jewish politicians together with text potentially tapping into longtime anti-Semitic slurs about Jewish people buying power might leave a question mark about the intent, but to make it absolutely clear, the ad also altered the size and shape of Ossoff’s nose, making it longer and wider. Harmful stereotypes about Jewish people having large noses are similarly longstanding.
The Forward consulted three graphic designers who all agreed that, in the words of one, Ossoff’s nose is “the primary difference where the altered version is larger than the original.”
The Perdue campaign blamed the altered image on “an unintentional error that distorted the image,” committed by “an outside vendor.” As Ossoff tweeted in response, “This is the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history. Senator, literally no one believes your excuses.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is calling on Perdue to answer whether the vendor who supposedly caused the “distorted” image has been fired and if the Perdue campaign staffer who approved the ad has been held accountable, and is also calling on Perdue to contribute all the money raised by the ad to an organization fighting anti-Semitism.
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