Republicans, who have a long history of doctoring images to smear political opponents (see, e.g., article here), are doing it in several 2022 North Carolina races. See example below and read story here. In this case, the target of the smear is state Rep. Ricky Hurtado, who narrowly defeated a GOP incumbent in 2020 (details here). Not only is the photo fake, which its creator admits, but it falsely portrays Hurtado as anti-police (see story here). Free speech protects political lies, but voters don’t have to be swayed by them.
“Hurtado said he has cultivated relationships with local law enforcement, including with police chiefs …. He also said he has cosponsored bills that help police officers, including House Bill 436, which mandated psychological screenings for officers before employment, and aimed to educate officers about maintaining their mental health and using statewide resources available to them; and House Bill 536, which required officers to intervene in and report situations involving excessive use of force. Both bills passed the General Assembly unanimously,” which means Republicans voted for them. The General Assembly has 69 Republicans and 51 Democrats (details here).
Anyone paying much attention to politics knows Republicans are dishonest and fight dirty. Whether that should disqualify a particular candidate is up to individual voters. But it seems to me if a candidate will lie about an opponent to get into office, isn’t it also likely they’re lying about what they’ll do in office?
