华盛顿——周一晚上，明尼苏达州的小企业主贝丝·贝尼克正在观看Netflix上的剧集《布里奇顿》时，突然注意到一则政治广告中的画面非常眼熟：那正是她去年与民主党国会候选人杰克·约翰逊合影时的照片。
WASHINGTON – Minnesota small business owner Beth Benike was watching the Netflix show “Bridgerton” on Monday night when she noticed a familiar image in a political ad that aired during a commercial break: the exact shot of Democratic congressional nominee Jake Johnson from a photo she’d been in with him last year.
然而，在约翰逊的对手——共和党众议员布拉德·芬斯塔德制作的这则攻击性广告中，贝尼克已经不在照片里了；取而代之的是民主党州长蒂姆·沃尔兹。更令贝尼克困惑的是：芬斯塔德为何会使用这张包含她的照片——她一直公开批评芬斯塔德对唐纳德·特朗普关税政策的支持。
Except in this attack ad from Johnson’s opponent, Republican Rep. Brad Finstad, Benike wasn’t in the photo anymore. In her place, in what appeared to be an AI-generated image, was Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Just as bizarre to Benike is why Finstad, her congressman, was using a photo with her in it at all: she’s been a very public critic of his support for President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
2025年3月，贝尼克被授予“明尼苏达州年度小企业主”称号，但随后她因特朗普的关税政策而陷入困境，多次向芬斯塔德求助，却未得到任何帮助。她曾两次试图在华盛顿与他会面，但都被拒绝。直到4月，约翰逊听说了她的遭遇后主动提出去她的仓库了解情况，两人才见了面。
After being named Minnesota’s Small Business Person of the Year in March 2025, Benike was making news days later talking about struggling because of Trump’s tariffs. She reached out to Finstad several times for help, but said he didn’t offer any. When she twice tried to meet with him in Washington, D.C., he declined. She met Johnson in April, when he heard her story and asked if he could come to her warehouse to learn more about tariffs.
贝尼克清楚地记得那天的一切：约翰逊穿了什么衣服，他们站在仓库的哪个位置。她对HuffPost表示：“我简直不敢相信……在我最需要帮助的时候，我的众议员连句话都不愿意跟我说；而现在他却用了一张在我们仓库拍的照片来攻击我？这到底是什么意思？”
That’s where they ended up in a photo together, and why Benike quickly recognized Johnson’s image in Finstad’s campaign ad. She said she remembers that day “really clearly,” including what Johnson was wearing and where they were standing in her warehouse. “I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Benike told HuffPost, with a weak laugh.
你可以自己看看这两张照片：左边是贝尼克和约翰逊的真实合影（约翰逊于2025年4月在Facebook上分享了这张照片）；右边则是芬斯塔德广告中被篡改后的照片——约翰逊被替换成了沃尔兹。
“My own congressman wouldn’t even talk to me in my time of deepest need that he was directly impacting and continuing to make worse, and now he’s using a photo taken at my warehouse and took me out of it? Can you make someone feel any less significant?”You can see the image for yourself.
芬斯塔德的竞选团队为何认为使用一张包含贝尼克的照片、将她从中移除，再经过修图让照片看起来像是约翰逊真的与沃尔兹合影并获得点赞，会是个好主意，这目前尚不清楚。约翰逊是一位拥有20年教龄的数学教师，正在明尼苏达州第一国会选区进行首次政治角逐。
On the left, the real photo of Benike with Johnson, which he shared on Facebook in April 2025. On the right, the manipulated image of Johnson with Walz in Finstad’s campaign ad. It’s not clear why Finstad’s campaign thought it would be a good idea to use a photo with Benike in it, remove her from it and then doctor it to make it look like Johnson is actually in a photo with Walz, giving him a thumbs up. Johnson, a math teacher for the last 20 years, is making his first political bid in Minnesota’s 1st congressional district.
“多么糟糕的决定，”贝尼克说。“你们最好相信，我会把这事分享给一直关注我故事的人们……这感觉几乎像是一种攻击，仿佛在说‘我们会让你们看看她有多微不足道’。”芬斯塔德的竞选团队未回应置评请求。
“What a poor decision,” said Benike. “You’d better believe I’m going to be sharing this with the people that have been following my story.... It almost feels like an attack, like ’we’ll show how insignificant she is.”Finstad’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
约翰逊竞选团队发言人尼克·马达抨击芬斯塔德“捏造假照片，因为他无法为自己的从政记录辩护”。
Johnson campaign spokesperson Nik Marda knocked Finstad for “fabricating fake photos because he can’t defend his record.”
“他在试图欺骗民众，”马达在一份声明中说。“但明尼苏达州南部的选民不会被芬斯塔德投票提高物价、延续伊朗战争以及给数据中心公司减税的记录所转移视线。”
“He’s trying to trick people,” Marda said in a statement. “But the voters of southern Minnesota won’t be distracted from Finstad’s votes to raise prices, continue the Iran War, and give tax breaks to data center companies.”
芬斯塔德是一位两届众议员兼前美国农业部行政官员，处于连任的有利位置。特朗普在2024年以11个百分点的优势赢得该选区，而芬斯塔德表现更佳，以17个百分点的优势获胜。这位共和党现任议员在民调中保持微弱领先，非党派的《库克政治报告》将该席位评为“倾向共和党”。但这并非板上钉钉。尽管是首次参选，约翰逊在筹款方面与芬斯塔德保持同步，且在民主党顺风顺水之际竞选国会议员。
Finstad, a two-term congressman and former USDA administrator, is well positioned to win reelection. Trump won this district in 2024 by 11 percentage points, and Finstad did even better, winning it by 17 percentage points. The GOP incumbent has held a narrow lead in polling, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates this seat as “likely Republican.”But it’s not a done deal. Despite being a first-time candidate, Johnson has kept pace with Finstad’s fundraising and is running for Congress as Democrats have the wind at their backs.
特朗普的支持率处于历史低位，全国选民因经济困境怪罪他的关税政策和伊朗战争。负责协助民主党人当选众议员的民主党众议院竞选委员会于7月将约翰逊纳入其“红转蓝”计划，意味着该委员会认为他有机会翻转该席位。
Trump’s approval rating is at a historic low, and voters nationwide blame his tariffs and war in Iran for their economic struggles. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to the House, added Johnson to its red-to-blue program in July, meaning it sees a path to him flipping this seat.
贝妮克是一名拥有10年军龄的退伍军人，她的企业“Busy Baby”曾在2021年让她登上ABC电视台的《鲨鱼坦克》节目。她向《赫芬顿邮报》承认，自己在上一届选举中并未投票。
Benike, a 10-year Army veteran whose business, Busy Baby, landed her an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2021, conceded to HuffPost that she didn’t vote in the last election. “I didn’t think votes mattered,” she said.
“我当时觉得投票并不重要，”她说，“但后来我才明白，其实投票确实重要。如果你不站出来，就没人会替你出头。我的企业也需要支持。”
“I learned the hard way, it does matter. If you don’t stand up, nobody is going to stand up. I need support for my business.”