This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Prominent Trump ally Devin Nunes has been criticized by his Democratic rival in the midterm elections, after a photograph on social media showed the Republican congressman next to a supporter making a hand gesture that some consider racist.

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Nunes is chair of the House intelligence committee and a strong supporter of President Donald Trump regarding investigations into Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow. He represents the 22nd district in central California.

In a photo taken at a campaign event on Tuesday, a man standing beside him was making an “A-OK” sign with his hand.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremist groups, says the gesture is used by white supremacists in some cases to signal their beliefs.

Nunes’ Democratic rival, Andrew Janz, said the photo showed Nunes was attracting far-right support.

But the Anti-Defamation League, which has written extensively on the gesture, has declared it a hoax used by far-right groups to rile up those on the other side of the political aisle, the Fresno Bee newspaper said.

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Ben Bergquam, the man who took the photo with Nunes, in which another man was making the gesture, said in a video that only those on the political left see the signal as offensive. It signifies, he said, either “you’re fine” or support for “those who are willing to stand up and put their lives on the line for this country if called upon”.

The Bee said Bergquam was a member of the Proud Boys, which the SPLC classifies as a hate group. It describes itself as a fraternal group whose members are “western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world”.

The Bee reported that the photo with Nunes had been removed from the web.

Nunes’ campaign did not immediately respond for a request for comment.