The Associated Press has found itself under fire over some photos taken Saturday depicting Sen. Ted Cruz and a poster of a gun pointed at his head.
The photographs, by AP photographer Charlie Neibergall, was taken while Cruz was talking at the Celebrate the 2nd Amendment event in Iowa. Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, has been a huge supporters of gun rights. Despite the criticisms, the AP notes it was not trying to make the senator look bad.
“Five of the photos published by AP included images of guns seen on a wall in the background so that it appeared a pistol was pointed at Sen. Cruz’s head,” the AP told The Daily Caller News Foundation in a prepared statement. “The images were not intended to portray Sen. Cruz in a negative light.”
Not everyone, however, believes the photos were a mistake. Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, notes the pictures are particularly troubling considering recent events.
“This is disgusting,” Bozell said in a prepared statement to TheDCNF. “Just days after a horrific shooting that took nine lives, the AP has the gall to unapologetically display a gun aimed at the head of a presidential candidate. They would never do this to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Nor should they.”
“The AP is lying,” Bozell continued. “This was not an accident. They made a deliberate decision to publish the photo. The AP owes Senator Cruz, his wife Heidi, and his children an immediate and unqualified apology.”
“Furthermore,” he added. “I am calling on the AP to conduct a complete investigation of everyone involved in the publishing of the photo and to fire those who ultimately made the decision to publish the photo.”
Bozell is not alone, however, with others noting their criticism of the photos.
As a photographer, I can say that this photograph, taken by the AP’s Charlie Neibergall, was intentional! pic.twitter.com/Lo8C29eHUO
— Peggy L Price (@peggylprice) June 22, 2015
“I can’t wait to see a similar photo involving leftist Democratic Party 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who perhaps to many readers’ surprise, has to a fair extent been a supporter of Second Amendment rights,” Tom Blumer of News Busters wrote.
@AP Charlie Neibergall should be fired and you should report him to the secrete service. — Michael Trickey (@mltrickey) June 22, 2015
“But imagine the outcry were he a Democrat,” an opinion piece from Breitbart stated. “How many think pieces about violent imagery and responsible reporting would we see? How many more if he were a woman?”
Will #CharlieNeibergall have the courage & decency to apologize publicly to #TedCruz? Charlie, today is the day you decide if you’re a man. — Smug Simon (@SmugSimon) June 22, 2015
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