Social media users share a photo of Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (slightly cut out) sitting at a conference table in front of a painting by Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda in a US attack in Pakistan, and a sign that reads, “Inappropriate to serve. Accuses Trump.” another painting was affixed and the accused Trump sign was engraved on the wall.
An example of the post, which has been shared more than 11,000 times, can be seen here.
The four Democratic American representatives are informally known as ‘the group’ (here). Omar of Minnesota and Tlaib of Michigan were the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress; Omar was also the first Somali-American and Tlaib was the first Palestinian-American. Pressley of Massachusetts was the first black woman elected from Massachusetts and Ocasio-Cortez of New York was the youngest woman elected at 29 (here, here) in the chamber. All four were re-elected in 2020 (here).
The photo shared in the social media posts was originally posted on November 12, 2018 by Ocasio-Cortez with the caption “Squad. @ilhanmn @ayannapressley @rashidatlaib ”, as seen here on Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram page. Pictured is the painting behind the four wives of an elderly gentleman and the white wall behind them has no poster on it.
The Trump accusation poster was photographed on the wall, but all four women expressed public support for the accusation of former President Trump (here, here, here).
This photo has been shared in the past and discouraged by other fact-checking organizations, including PolitiFact (here), Snopes (here) and Lead Stores (here).
Reuters snapped previously edited photos of bin Laden with other public figures (here).
VERDICT
Alter. A painting by Osama bin Laden and a poster supporting Trump’s accusation were edited in the original photo, posted by Congressman Ocasio-Cortez in 2018.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.