The Democratic challenger competing against GOP Sen. David Perdue accused the incumbent of running an “anti-Semitic ad.”
Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, levied the accusation against the sitting senator after his campaign ran an ad on Facebook that included an image of Ossoff with his nose slightly enlarged while the rest of his facial features had not been altered, according to a Jewish publication the Forward, which cited three graphic design experts.
“Sitting U.S. Senator David Perdue’s digital attack ad distorted my face to enlarge and extend my nose. I’m Jewish. This is the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history,” Ossoff tweeted in response. “Senator, literally no one believes your excuses.”
The ad, which included Ossoff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Jewish Democratic senator from New York, read, “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia!”
Anti-Semitic stereotypes have long cast Jewish people as having large noses and an obsession with money and often include conspiracy theories that a Jewish cabal controls the global banking system.
Perdue’s campaign blamed an outside vendor for the “unintentional error” when a filter was applied. The ad, which first ran on July 22, was deleted so that there was “no confusion” about the senator’s intentions, according to the Washington Post.
“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,” John Burke, a spokesman for the campaign, said in a statement. “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 Sen. Perdue’s strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate,” Burke said.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers and challengers have pushed ads that have been construed as anti-Semitic in recent years.
