Vulnerable GOP senator tweets wrong pic of Scalia

The campaign account for one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection this year accidentally tweeted a picture of a veteran stage actor while memorializing the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday.

“Justice #Scalia‘s death: a profound loss for America,” the campaign account for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) tweeted hours after news of the justice’s death in Texas.

{mosads}Instead of a picture of the longtime jurist, Johnson’s account accidentally included a photo of actor Edward Gero, who played Scalia in a play about his court opinions last year, called “The Originalist.”

Senator Ron Johnson confuses Scalia with actor Edward Gero. https://t.co/a0t5zrQcCK pic.twitter.com/1W8IrRWn3T

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 14, 2016

Johnson’s tweet was deleted roughly 20 minutes later, and replaced with one featuring a correct photo of Scalia.

Brian Reisinger, a spokesman for Johnson’s campaign, framed the mistake as a simple staff error.

“Staff made an honest mistake while attempting to honor Justice Scalia,” Reisinger said in a short statement.

The brief error is an embarrassing flub for Johnson, who faces tough reelection odds.

A poll last month found him losing to former Sen. Russ Feingold (D) by 13 points.

Even though Johnson’s tweet was deleted, it was preserved by Politwoops. The tool from the transparency advocates at the Sunlight Foundation was resurrected earlier this month, after it was blocked for violating Twitter’s terms of service.

This story was updated at 10:31 p.m.