GOP Sen. David Perdue Takes Down Ad Showing Jewish Senate Rival Jon Ossoff With Enlarged Nose

Sen. David Perdue (R-Georgia) has taken down a Facebook ad featuring an edited image of his Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, with an enlarged nose.

The Facebook ad, now removed, showed images of Ossoff and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York), who is also Jewish, with a caption reading: “DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO BUY GEORGIA! HELP DAVID PERDUE FIGHT BACK.”

Osoff expressed his offense by the ad, saying the picture depicted an anti-Semitic sentiment.

“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,” said Ossoff.

A Perdue campaign spokeswoman said the image manipulation in the ad was an “unintentional error” caused by an “outside vendor” who used a filter.

“Obviously, this was accidental, but to ensure there is absolutely no confusion, we have immediately removed the image from Facebook,” said the Perdue campaign spokeswoman. “Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue’s strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate.”

Jewish officials also criticized the ad, making parallels to now acute problems of racism and bigotry.

“As Trump amplifies, espouses, and normalizes bigotry & hatred, others in the @GOP continue to follow,” tweeted Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Article by Polina Kuznetsova