Republican Campaign Ads: Enlarging A Jewish Man's Nose, Darkening A Black Man's Skin

Tuesday, July 28

Senator David Perdue's (R-Georgia) campaign removed a fundraising ad from Facebook which enlarged the nose of Perdue's rival, Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish. The ad also featured Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), also Jewish.

Three graphic design experts told the Forward that the Ossoff image, adapted from a 2017 Reuters photo, was changed by having his nose lengthened and widened. Other parts of his face kept the same size and proportions.

The Perdue campaign claimed it was "accidental". "Obviously". An "unintentional error" by "an outside vendor". Nothing to do with us! Not our fault!

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. Obviously, this was accidental ...

Ossoff rejected Perdue's explanation, stating his opponent's campaign acted intentionally "to enlarge and extend my nose".

This is the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history. Senator, literally no one believes your excuses.

The Forward stated the ad had been running since July 22, adding:

Depictions of Jews with large noses have been staples of anti-Semitic propaganda since the mid-19th century. In the past two years, political ads attacking Jewish candidates in Connecticut and California have Photoshopped them to make them appear to be holding money, another antisemitic trope.

The Connecticut ad was from Republican Ed Charamut. In California, the State Building and Construction Trades Council (a trade union) attacked a Democrat candidate.

Wednesday, July 29

Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-South Carolina) campaign posted a Facebook ad featuring an image of his Democratic opponent Jaime Harrison with a digitally darkened skin tone. Harrison is Black.

Graham's ad also changed the photo's background from brightly-lit and professional to dark and ominous. Harrison condemned the ad.

Lindsey Graham is playing a part in a 400-year history of an Old South that had no room for people who looked like me. ... Lindsey Graham might have darkened my face — but it's Lindsey who the people of South Carolina can't recognize.

T.W. Arrighi, the Graham's communications director, told CNN:

The artistic effect used, the same one that was used on Senator Graham just two days before in a video, is a non-story.

It looks like Arrighi was lying. Salon reported the Graham campaign's only video featuring its candidate in the last week is a clip from a meeting with South Carolina healthcare administrators (with no "artistic effect used").

Guy King, Harrison's communications director called the move "the oldest trick in the book" and a "desperate measure" that shows "how scared he is from our grassroots movement".