They were trying to honor the late Rep. John Lewis, but two U.S. senators were redfaced Saturday after tweeting photographs of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died in October.
Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, of Alaska, were among the many politicians who took to social media to honor Lewis, the iconic civil rights leader and 17-term Congressman from Georgia who died Friday after losing his battle with pancreatic cancer.
But both senators posted the wrong photos in their tributes, The Associated Press reported. The posts were quickly revised with photos of Lewis, according to The New York Times.
“It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with John Lewis a genuine & historic American hero,” Rubio said in a tweet. “May the Lord grant him eternal peace.”
However, the photo Rubio shared was of Cummings, and he also used a photo of himself with the late Maryland congressman, who died Oct. 17, 2019, on his Twitter profile, the Times reported.
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Sullivan also paid tribute to Lewis, but used a photo of Cummings from his Facebook account. Sullivan is standing next to Cummings in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, the Times reported.
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Rubio acknowledged his mistake in a follow-up tweet.
“John Lewis was a genuine American hero,” Rubio wrote. “I was honored to appear together in Miami 3 years ago at an event captured in video below. May God grant him eternal rest.”
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Nick Iacovella, a spokesperson for Rubio, told the Times the photo mix-up happened because of a mislabeled photo. The original photo, taken in February 2014 by Philadelphia Inquirer photojournalist Lauren Schneiderman, was mislabeled in the caption, the Times reported.
Sullivan removed the Facebook post that contained the photo of Cummings, the Times reported. The corrected tribute omitted the reference to the museum, and Sullivan used a solo photograph of Lewis, the AP reported.
Mike Anderson, a spokesperson for Sullivan, wrote in an email that “Senator Sullivan’s staff made a mistake trying to honor an American legend.”
Lawmakers are not the only ones who have confused the two congressmen.
In late December, CBS News apologized for incorrectly showing a photo of Cummings when referring to Lewis, the Times reported. In June 2019, Fox News anchor, Eric Shawn apologized for confusing the congressmen.
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