ATLANTA (AP) – Facebook removed a photo illustration showing a Republican congressional candidate in Georgia posing with a rifle next to three Democratic House members, saying Friday that it violated the social media platform’s policy against inciting violence.
The illustration, a montage of four photos, was posted Thursday by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a candidate who has previously courted controversy with her support of a baseless conspiracy theory involving President Donald Trump and her inflammatory remarks about two Muslim congresswomen.
Greene is favored to win election in a deeply conservative district northwest of Atlanta. She faces Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal in the general election.
Greene’s post featured four separate photos that had been combined to show her posing with a rifle next to Democratic U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. The three left-wing congresswomen, known as part of “the Squad,” are often targeted by Republicans. Omar and Tlaib are two of only three Muslim members of Congress. Ocasio-Cortez is Hispanic.
“Hate America leftists want to take this country down,” Greene wrote, later adding, “We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.”