WARNING: This story contains language that some people may find offensive. Discretion is advised.
An NDP candidate in Alberta was forced to defend her husband after a photo of him posing with a person who is pointing a gun at the camera was circulated online Friday.
The Instagram photo which has since been deleted was circulated first by a blogger on a right-wing website and showed NDP candidate for Battle River-Crowfoot Katherine Swampy’s husband posing shirtless with three others, one of whom is pointing a gun at the camera.
Swampy responded via Facebook Friday saying the photo was taken five years ago. She didn’t comment on the photo further but used the majority of the post to defend her husband, saying he was an entrepreneur who also speaks to young students about the importance of getting an education.
The post was updated later to apologize for a profane post Swampy made in 2011 saying “Ur f—king with the wrong chicka bitch u best do urself a favour and f—k off b4 I do something. BITCH.”
When asked for comment the NDP sent a nearly identical statement to Global News.
In-Depth: Federal Election 2015
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NDP leader Tom Mulcair was asked about the photo during a press conference in Edmonton Friday morning but refused to comment, saying he hadn’t seen it.
“I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t seen, it’s just a simple matter of prudence,” he said.
The photo is just the latest in a growing list of candidates and party officials who’ve been criticized or forced to apologize after their social media posts were circulated online.
Since the campaign started in August, social media gaffes have been a daily occurrence. Liberal candidate Joy Davies made headlines this week for controversial Facebook posts about marijuana in 2013, Peter Kent was forced to delete a tweet featuring a debunked image, an NDP official was forced to apologize for anti-Catholic tweets, a Liberal candidate was forced to step down for a tweet in which she urged someone to “go blow their brains out” and two Conservative candidates were forced out after one was caught urinating in a coffee mug and another was found to be posting questionable videos on YouTube.
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