I’d be remiss not to write about the following picture taken by Charlie Neibergall of the Associated Press since I was at the same event with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston, IA where he defended gun rights. The picture shows a gun that was on a poster on the wall behind Cruz pointed at his face.
Brietbart News points out there were a number of different photographs that could have been used, but the AP sent out several from this perspective to their clients.
Yes we can imagine the outrage if this happened to a Democrat candidate, but it didn’t. Paul Colford, Vice President and Director of Media Relations, with AP gave a statement to Politico:
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz was shown in a series of 14 photos taken by an Associated Press photographer at a ‘Celebrate the 2nd Amendment’ event Saturday afternoon, held at a shooting range in Johnston, Iowa. 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 images were not intended to portray Sen. Cruz in a negative light.
I don’t want to get in the head of the editor or the photographer. It seems a little far-fetched to me. That said. It’s done, let’s move on. Unlike Democrats and liberals who scream and throw a fit over such things let’s not maintain a victim mentality here.
This picture is not the finest display of photo journalism, but it’s not going to hurt him in the 2016 race either.