GOP group uses darkened Miami Herald photo of Kaepernick in fundraising email

A photograph of former NFL star and current civilrights activist Colin Kaepernick was doctored and used in a GOP fundraising email to show the AfricanAmerican quarterback with significantly darkened skin on his face and arms.

The National Republican Congressional Committee used the photograph, which was originally taken by the Miami Herald, in an emailed advertisement to help sell coffee mugs featuring a 1770s-era American flag. It was an apparent reference to Nike endorser Kaepernick’s successful objection to a July Fourth shoe that was to be sold by the company and featured the so-called Betsy Ross flag.

Kaepernick reportedly took issue with the flag’s connection to the slavery era and its use by extremist groups.

“Do you kneel with Colin Kaepernick?” reads the subject line of Wednesday’s email to contributors. “Show your support for the USA.”

It features side-by-side photos of a smiling President Donald Trump in front of an American flag and the darkened photo of Kaepernick kneeling before a game against the Miami Dolphins in 2016 to protest racial injustices and police brutality.

Democrats criticized the use of the photo as “classic race-baiting,” while the NRCC disavowed knowledge of the alteration, saying that a graphic-design vendor purchased the original through Getty Images.

“The image was not altered in any way by the NRCC,” spokesman Chris Pack wrote in an email to reporters. “The image was published as-is from a graphic design vendor.”

Kaepernick inspired a protest movement in the NFL beginning in 2016, sparking racial and political tensions and turning him into a high-profile target for conservatives — including Trump — who consider him anti-American and disrespectful of the U.S. military.

Kaepernick has remained unsigned by an NFL team since the 2016 season.

The Herald is working with Getty to determine the circumstances surrounding the photograph’s purchase and subsequent alteration.

In a statement issued Thursday, Miami Herald Managing Editor Rick Hirsch said the Herald did not provide the photo to the NRCC.

“Under no circumstance would we give permission for the image to be altered in this way,” Hirsch said.

Getty’s content license agreement prohibits the alteration of editorial content.