GOP campaign removes Obama-Hitler photo

BOSTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign said it deleted from its Web site a photo of a supporter in a T-shirt that compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

The camp of Republican Charles D. Baker said in Boston it was initially unaware of the posting with the photo and said Gov. Deval Patrick's campaign aides were going out of their way to find fault with the Baker campaign, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

The photo, taken down Monday, was labeled "MassGOP Summer BBQ," and showed a woman wearing a T-shirt that had pictures of Obama and Hitler, a swastika, and Obama's campaign logo. The shirt bore the words: "Hitler gave good speeches and had his own symbol too," the Globe reported.

The posting was one of many on a Flickr page controlled by Baker's campaign, the Globe said.

Patrick's campaign said the posting indicated Baker is courting his party's fringe elements.

"While everyone is entitled to their views, a picture of a swastika and a comparison between our president and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler brings the political discourse to a level of complete absurdity, and if Baker is to preserve any credibility whatsoever in this campaign, he should explain how this photo was approved, apologize, and remove the photo from his Web site immediately,'' said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh.

Baker campaign spokesman Rick Gorka said the photo "clearly doesn't reflect the views of the campaign.''

"It obviously shouldn't have been posted online. It's clear the Patrick campaign is desperate to change the subject away their failed record and will do whatever it takes to bring this campaign into the gutter," Gorka said, adding that the Web site is overseen by interns and that in the future there will be more scrutiny by the Baker staff.