An ad released by President Trump’s re-election campaign falsely depicts former Vice President Joe Biden as “hiding” alone in his basement using an image edited to remove several other people.
The Trump campaign tweeted the ad Wednesday. The edited picture of Biden sitting on the floor of a house appears about five seconds in, as a narrator claims Biden is “hiding … in his basement.”
In fact, the original image depicts Biden and several other people in the home of Coralsville, Iowa, Mayor John Lundell in December 2019.
The photo was used and edited without permission, according to The Gazette, which published the original picture.
Photo editor Liz Martin, who took the picture, said about three dozen people were present at the event, and told the newspaper that Biden had sat on the floor so someone else could have his seat.
Iowa state Sen. Zach Wahls (D) noticed the altered image on Twitter, saying he was also present at Lundell’s home that evening.
“I was literally in the room of my Iowa town mayor’s Holiday Bowl watch party when this photo was taken,” Wahls tweeted “Biden was neither hiding nor alone nor in ‘the heart of Delaware’ when this photo was taken.”
Another manipulated photo shows a microphone edited out of Biden’s hands and a different background.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.