Controversial photographs from the Associated Press showing the image of a large gun pointing at the head of 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz have disappeared from AP’s photo bank.
APImages.com “no longer yields a handful of photos from photojournalist Charlie Neibergall wherein the barrel of a gun on a poster points to the U.S. senator and presidential candidate’s head,” Breitbart reported Monday.
The images had drawn outrage from conservatives who said the photo was an example of media bias.
A Breitbart post on Saturday asked readers to “Imagine this scenario — and how would the world respond if” the photo featured Sanders or Hillary Clinton.
“But imagine the outcry were [Cruz] a Democrat. How many think pieces about violent imagery and responsible reporting would we see? How many more if he were a woman?” the post on Breitbart said.
At the conservative media-watchdog NewsBusters, Tom Blumer expressed similar sentiments.
“I can’t wait to see a similar photo involving leftist Democratic Party 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who perhaps to many readers’ surprise, has to a fair extent been a supporter of Second Amendment rights,” Blumer wrote Sunday.
The photos were taken Saturday while Cruz spoke at a gun range in Iowa. A caption for one of the photos read, “Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a ‘Celebrate the 2nd Amendment Event,’ Saturday, June 20, 2015, at the CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston, Iowa.”
A number of people also directed outrage toward the photo on Twitter.
“Deliberate framing by the photographer. Deliberate choice by editors,” one person tweeted.
“I highly doubt if Cruz had a D behind his name you would do something as suggestive as this. Shame on your #bias,” Another said in a tweet directed to the AP.
Though, for all outrage the photo has received, NewsBusters pointed out the photo didn’t seem all that popular among media outlets.
“There may be a silver lining in this. It’s hard to be sure, but based on this images search at Bing.com at 11:40 p.m. ET Sunday evening, there is little evidence that subscribing AP outlets have posted the photo at their sites,” Blumer wrote.
