US News

Texas Dem group crops Melania out of viral presidents photo

Democratic Party members in Lubbock, Texas, have been getting blasted on Facebook for cropping First Lady Melania Trump out of a now-viral picture from Barbara Bush’s funeral.

The original photo features former presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — posing alongside Melania and first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama.

Someone at Lubbock Democratic Party Headquarters posted the edited version on Sunday and later claimed they did it by accident. But Facebook users weren’t buying it.

“Childish crop job,” wrote one commenter.

“We all know you did this on purpose,” another seethed. “Extremely pathetic.”

While party officials told KCBD that they never intended to edit Melania out of the photo, they refused to take it down at first. It wasn’t until about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that it was removed and replaced with the original.

“It was an honest mistake,” said vice chair Leo Flores, who later offered an apology on Facebook.

“I apologize for posting an incomplete picture,” he said. “I didn’t realize anyone was missing until it was pointed out. Thank you for your concern.”

The now-viral photo has been shared by hundreds of people, with most believing that Melania was cropped out on purpose.

“I Support this organization and I am as liberal as they come but you should have posted the original picture without cropping the photo,” wrote one Facebook user.

“This pettiness is why people hate politics & don’t want to be involved in them,” another said. “This pettiness costs valuable voices & votes. I don’t know who is responsible for posting pics on this page, but shame on them for altering the real photo.”