Sen. David Perdue Runs an Advertisement Digitally Enlarging the Nose of His Jewish Opponent
On June 22, 2020, Senator David Perdue (R-GA) began running a digital advertisement against his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff. The advertisement featured an image of Ossof, who is Jewish, with his face digitally distorted to make his nose appear larger. There is a centuries-long history of portraying Jews with large noses in antisemitic imagery.
The advertisement claimed that “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia.” In addition to the altered image of Ossoff, the advertisement featured a photo of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is also Jewish. The line alone, captioning an image of two Jewish politicians, promotes antisemitic tropes about Jews using money to as a tool of manipulation and control.
The Perdue campaign deleted the advertisement days later, after media began covering it. The campaign claimed the nose enlargement was an “unintentional error” caused by an external vendor who used a filter. Multiple graphic designers examined the image of Ossoff, and concluded hat his nose was altered, while the rest of his face remained untouched.
In response to the advertisement, Ossoff wrote, “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. Senator, literally no one believes your excuses.”
Multiple Jewish groups and leaders also expressed outrage over the advertisement:
