That Viral Ad for Dan Crenshaw's Fourth of July Party is Slightly Fake

Have you seen that screenshot from an ad by Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw? The Republican congressman is throwing a party for Independence Day and an image from the ad has been making the rounds on social media sites like Twitter. But the graphic has actually been photoshopped, however slightly.

Crenshaw’s July 4th party is called the Summer of 1776, something that can either be interpreted as an innocuous celebration of the country’s founding, or foreshadowing of the dark days ahead. The year 1776 was, after all, a pretty violent time.

The original video from Rep. Crenshaw, which is available on Vimeo, includes a segment where the words “Dan’s First Annual” appear behind the congressman. Crenshaw’s head slightly obscures the letter “R” in the word “first,” while his torso obscures the middle “NU” in the word “annual.”

We’ve made a short GIF below to show you the clip from the original video.

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But some anonymous photoshopper took the politician and moved him up a bit in the image to cover even more of the letters behind him, as you can see below.

Still tough to see the difference? How about if we put the real image (left) and the manipulated image (right) side by side?

Now you get it. The difference is subtle, but it’s there. The unknown photoshopper even went to the trouble of making Crenshaw a little more sunburnt for reasons unknown.

Rep. Crenshaw’s ad for the party includes a notice that it was “paid for by Dan Crenshaw for Congress,” which is presumably where any profits for the event will be heading. The smallest package is $25 for entry, not including any food or drinks, but there’s a “cabana” package that goes for $5,000.

What do you get for your money? Musical entertainment from Blink-281 (a blink-182 tribute band) and probably a lot of chatter from partygoers about how covid-19 was invented by George Soros to thin the world’s population and give us all microchips in our arms. Or whatever the right-wing conspiracy theory of the day might be.

The best thing about Rep. Crenshaw’s July 4th bash? It’s a completely gun-free event. You read that correctly. Despite being called the “Summer of 1776" and Crenshaw’s endorsement from the National Rifle Association, guns of any kind are not allowed, even if you have a concealed carry permit.

“All weapons, including concealed firearms, are prohibited at this event and on the premises of Lago Mar,” the event website explains.

So much for freedom, amirite?