The national media’s obsession with the spread of doctored photos of Democratic politicians reached a fever pitch on Thursday, when The Washington Post published a story accusing GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of posting an “altered” image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Twitter.
The photo in question was indeed altered, but not in a way that made Pelosi look particularly bad. Instead, Stefanik — or one of her assistants — posted a filtered photo of Pelosi along with a petition to “pressure” her to send articles of impeachment to the Senate.
The use of filtered photos is common in the graphics design business. Pelosi’s own political team has used the technique in social media posts about President Donald Trump.
Media outlets have breathlessly covered the increased use of altered and photoshopped photos and images in the political realm. In May 2019, news outlets, including The Post, vigorously covered a viral video of Pelosi that was slowed down to make the Democrat appear drunk.
The Post story compared Stefanik’s post to a photoshopped image that Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar posted Monday of President Obama shaking hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The original image was of Obama shaking hands with India’s president, Narendra Modi.
The Post’s description of Stefanik’s image shows it was far different than what Gosar posted.
“The tweet shows a close-up, red-tinted photo of Pelosi, with the lines in the House speaker’s face exaggerated due to the image’s unnaturally high contrast,” wrote Post reporter Felicia Sonmez.
https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1215005555116429312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
Pelosi’s own social media team has used the same technique in the past on posts about President Trump.
https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1204451842232668160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1202655863925817345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1195722784602763264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
Stefanik responded by thanking the Post for “promoting & advertising” her campaign donation page.
https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1215293283380973568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
Stefanik has become a major target of Democrats ever since she squared off against Rep. Adam Schiff during hearings for the Trump impeachment inquiry last year.
Stefanik announced a massive campaign fundraising haul on Wednesday. She said her campaign raised $3.2 million in the final quarter of 2019, which is more than she raised in all of 2017 and 2018.
The Post story was widely ridiculed on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/1215285981353512961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1215300563836891137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/1215286624470347784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/1215300091772272640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/chrisjdmartin/status/1215296020235673601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer
The Post did not respond to a request for comment.
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