A Republican group in Alabama apologized after inadvertently posting a picture to Facebook that included imagery of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The picture was posted earlier this week by the Lawrence County Republican Party alongside a statement thanking one of the party’s members. Yet the photo used, which shows the GOP elephant logo, also contained depictions of hooded Klansmen.
The image was ultimately deleted by the Lawrence County Republican Party, but not before it spread widely across social media.
In a statement on Monday, party chairman Shanon Terry issued an apology and said that the photo had been posted in error.
“I would like to offer a deep and sincere apology for a picture that temporarily appeared on this page last night,” the Facebook post said. “A Google search picture of a GOP elephant was used and later found to have hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party.”
The image appears to have been originally used in a 2020 article from Mother Jones accusing the Republican Party of being “racist and soulless.”
Terry added that he has taken “full responsibility for the error” as the party’s leader.
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, a Democratic legislator from Huntsville, Alabama, criticized the original post in a tweet made on Tuesday.
“Shame on the Lawrence County Republican Party for this disgusting image,” he said.
While criticism of the post has been widespread on Twitter, the Lawrence County Republican Party has since limited comments on its Facebook page.