Nigel Farage tweeted a doctored photo of a pro-refugee campaigner who he labelled “sick” after being misled.
The British MEP distributed the picture to his 1.2 million followers and garnered thousands of interactions before he removed it from his feed.
It showed a smiling woman at a march holding a sign reading: “My legs are open for refugees”.
The original picture, taken in Canada in 2015, read “my door is open for refugees”.
In a later Tweet Farage said: “The photograph turns out to be fake news but the refugees welcome brigade need to think harder about what is happening.”
The former UKIPer was humbled by the photographer in a series of tweets that explains the real origins of the pic.
Lasia Kretzel said: “This photo (whether edited or original) has nothing to do with Cologne, Malmo, sex, sexual abuse, or rape, nor does it indicate so.
“If you’re going to criticize something, please make sure what you’re distributing is authentic. As a fellow broadcaster, I think you owe it to the public to publish correct information, to apologize, and set the record straight when an error is made”.
.@Nigel_Farage
1) I am the original photographer of this image which was edited, subsequently retweeted by you, and has since removed from your feed. Here are the real facts of this photograph. pic.twitter.com/Tu59dMtkNt— Lasia Kretzel (@lkretzel1130) July 16, 2018