This Ted Cruz news photo, which seemingly shows a gun pointed at the Republican Texas senator and presidential candidate, raised concerns in some quarters over the weekend, Politico reported Sunday:
The Associated Press/Charlie Neibergall, June 20, 2015
Conservative-oriented Breitbart.com separately asked readers to imagine the outcry if a Democratic gun-control advocate had been depicted similarly.
Politico noted the Associated Press photo actually captured a background poster resulting in a large semi-blurred image of a handgun pointed at Cruz’s forehead.
Cruz appeared Saturday at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston, Iowa, Politico said, and in his remarks, he encouraged residents to adopt what he called a Texan approach to guns by simply “hitting what you aim at.” A day earlier, Politico noted, Cruz had accused Democrats of using Wednesday’s church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, as an excuse “to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
To our inquiry, an AP spokesman said the photo at issue wasn’t intended to convey a negative message about Cruz (see his full statement at the end of this story).
We learned that the AP photographer, Des Moines-based Charlie Neibergall, took at least five other photos of Cruz speaking at the shop. Our parent newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, is an AP member so we’re able to share the other photographs of Cruz talking sent out by the AP:
Our Sources
News story, "AP photo shows a gun pointed at Ted Cruz," Politico, June 21, 2015
Statement, Paul Colford, vice president, director of media relations, The Associated Press (received by email by PolitiFact Texas, June 22, 2015)