Senate Contender Blasts Opponent's 'Anti-Semitic Trope'

Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue says pic of Dem Jon Ossoff accidentally distorted his nose
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 28, 2020 8:47 AM CDT
GOP Senator Nixes Ad of Jewish Opponent With Altered Nose
In this March 4, 2020, file photo, Jon Ossoff signs papers in Atlanta to qualify to run in the Senate race against Republican Sen. David Perdue.   (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)

Election campaigning in Georgia took an ugly turn this week as the Democratic challenger to a sitting Republican senator accused the latter of running an anti-Semitic ad against him. The Hill reports that the campaign of GOP Sen. David Perdue nixed a Facebook ad that had been running since July 22, showing his opponent, Jon Ossoff, who's Jewish, with a noticeably larger nose, along with Jewish New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and the words "Democrats are trying to buy Georgia." The Forward had three graphic artists examine the photo, and they determined Ossoff's nose had been made longer and wider from the nose in the original picture of Ossoff, which was a 2017 Reuters photo. Other parts of Ossoff's face remained the same size and proportions as the original, the graphic artists noted.

A rep from the Perdue campaign says in a statement that "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." The rep notes the ad has been taken down from Facebook and cites Perdue's "strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate." Ossoff isn't buying it, saying that the ad uses "the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history." "Senator, literally no one believes your excuses," he adds. Per the Washington Post, Ossoff also issued a statement calling for Perdue to offer an "unqualified apology to Georgia's Jewish community." (More David Perdue stories.)

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