| USA TODAY
The claim: Members of Congress who are part of ‘The Squad’ wore swastikas on their dresses, masks.
An edited photo makes its rounds on social media claiming to be Democratic U.S. representatives. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan wear dresses adorned with stars that form the shape of a swastika, the Nazi symbol.
There are also three other Democratic representatives pictured: Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, to whose head a red snare has been added, and the newcomers to Congress Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York, whose face masks have been changed to display the swastika-like image. imposed on the dresses of Omar, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez.
“Look at rashida, omar and aoc dress, there’s a swastika!” read the text below the photo. USA TODAY has reached the user who posted the picture.
Omar was criticized in 2018 and 2019 for what commentators said they used an anti-Semitic herd in a tweet criticizing Israel’s policies. She later apologized, but still remained a target for criticism.
Real photo, changed clothes
A reverse Google image search shows that the original photo was posted to Bush’s Twitter account on January 3 with the words “Squad Up.” There are no swastikas in the photo or the bow. It also shows that Ilhan, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib wear dresses in different colors than in the edited photo.
‘The Squad’ is a term used to describe the young, liberal group of women of color who were often targets of former President Donald Trump and other conservatives. The news website The Hill said Bush’s posting of the photo indicates that she and Bowman are the newest members.
Since the image with the swastikas appeared in early January, independent fact-checkers have shown that the image needs to be changed. Yet it has been shared hundreds of times.
Our verdict: Change
The image has CHANGED, based on our research. The original photo was posted on Twitter in January by first-year member Cori Bush.
Our sources for fact checking
- Cori Bush Twitter Account, January 3, photo
- USA Today, March 7, 2019, ‘House takes an overwhelming resolution to condemn hate to rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments
- The Hill, January 3, “Cori Bush shares the picture of the expanded ‘Squad'”
- Snopes, Jan. 13, “No, ‘The Squad’ did not wear swastika dresses”
- Check Your Fact, January 14, “Fact Check: Were the members of ‘The Squad’ pictured wearing swastikas?”
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Our fact-checking work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.