Republican Flounders After Being Called Out For Sharing Fake Obama Photo On Twitter

A representative from Arizona is not too happy after a doctored photograph he tweeted on Monday was called out.

In his tweet, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) shared a image of Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apparently shaking hands under the caption, “the world is a better place without these guys in power.”

The Twitter community was quick to note that not only is Rouhani still president of Iran, but a meeting between Obama and Rouhani never actually occurred. In reality, Gosar tweeted an altered photograph of a meeting between Obama and then-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011, with Rouhani’s head placed over Singh’s.

Despite having been caught clearly sharing a fake image on Twitter, Gosar doubled down in a new tweet in which he said that “dim witted reporters” should note that he never claimed the image “wasn’t photoshopped.” Gosar also said that he never claimed Rouhani was dead nor that he had ever met Obama.

In a follow up tweet, Gosar went on to claim that regardless of the nature of the image, his point is that Obama “appeased, nurtured and protected” Iran, adding that the “world will be better off without Rouhani.”

Not everyone followed Gosar’s reasoning, as a number of Twitter users went on to mock the congressman’s questionable logic.

Gosar is no stranger to posting strange tweets. Over Christmas, he tweeted a video that appears to show Hillary Clinton narrowly avoiding being hit by a studio light with the message, “Remember the reason for the season! #MerryChristmas.”

Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, replied to the tweet herself, thanking Gosar for “reminding me of my dad’s quick reflexes!”

Gosar also made national headlines during his campaign in 2018, when six of his siblings appeared in political advertisements for his opponent. In one, his sister, Grace, said “it would be difficult to see my brother as anything but a racist.”