GEORGIA – President Biden and first lady Jill Biden posed for a photo with former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter during their visit to Georgia last week — but the angle of the photo makes it look like the Bidens are towering over miniature Carters.
The Carter Center released the photo of the two presidents and the two first ladies that was taken during the Bidens’ visit to the Carters’ home in Plains, Ga., last Thursday.
”We’re pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.! Thank you President and Mrs. Biden!,” the center wrote in a tweet Monday night.
It was the first time the two couples met since Biden became president, as the Carters did not attend January’s inauguration because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former president is 96, and Rosalynn Carter is 93.
But the picture of the meeting of the two presidents caught the eye of critics because it was taken with a wide-angle lens, distorting the frame.
The president appeared at least twice the size of Rosalynn Carter as he kneeled next to her while she sat in a chair.
The same was true for Jill Biden and the former president.
She is shown kneeling alongside his chair, holding his hand, but she looms large over him.
Twitter users were left baffled by the size discrepancy, wondering whether it was digitally altered or taken in a tiny house.
“In which we learn that Joe and Jill Biden could both play center in the NBA,” wrote conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
“I’ve been staring at this photo for three hours. I’ve got to go to bed. Back at it tomorrow,” wrote Joe Seiders.
“Filing under ‘why we don’t use the ultrawide lens indoors’,” journalist Jared Holt wrote.
“We voted for Biden because he’s a decent human being with sound policies but also because he and Jill are giants who will crush you if you make them angry,” posted sister celluloid.
Another suggested it was the photographer’s fault.
“My guess is the room was very small, so they had to use a wide angle lens to get everyone in. The choice of lens was correct, but someone should’ve fixed the distortion in photoshop before releasing it,” wrote user DemSwag.
The Bidens visited the Carters last Thursday on Biden’s 100th day in the White House.
The media members who travel with Biden did not go inside the Carters’ home.
Rosalynn said goodbye to the presidential couple as they left the home, while her husband remained inside.
“It was great to see President Carter,” Biden said after the meeting. “It reminded me that I was the first person to endorse him outside of Georgia. And we sat and talked about the old days and he introduced me to a friend of his, a reverend he wanted me to get to know, and Rosalynn was great, too. We just had a nice time. We’re old friends.”
The president and Jimmy Carter’s relationship dates back to the 1970s.
Biden began serving in the US Senate from Delaware in 1973, three years before Carter was inaugurated.
