Trump operatives get busted for using pre-pandemic 2019 photo to smear Biden as a mask hypocrite

Supporters of President Donald Trump are using a photograph taken in 2019 to accuse Joe Biden of hypocrisy when it comes to wearing face masks.

The photo, which was taken before the pandemic even started, shows a mask-free Biden on an airplane with traveling press secretary Remi Yamamoto.

The photo was spread by former Trump administration official Richard Grenell and then amplified by right-wing talk show host Mark Levin.

"Washington D.C. phony!" Grenell wrote on Twitter. "Joe Biden doesn't wear a mask on a plane -- but wears one OUTSIDE?"

"Biden wears a mask outside but not on a plane," Levin commented. "Fraud."

CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, however, dug up the Vogue article where the photo most recently appeared -- and it clearly states that it's a file photo that was taken in November 2019.