A manipulated video of Washington County chair candidate Nafisa Fai reached millions of viewers on X the week of Oct. 14.

The clip prompted online calls for her deportation and a confrontation at a candidates forum in Hillsboro.

The 26-second video showed Fai speaking at a community event in Minnesota with what appeared to be an upside-down American flag behind her.

An attendee and a separate video clip provided to the Oregon Journalism Project, which first reported the story, confirmed the flag was displayed right side up.

The X account "End Wokeness," which has 3.9 million followers, posted the clip Oct. 14 with the caption: "Oregon politician Nafisa Fai just held a rally in MN, speaking Somali, with an American flag UPSIDE DOWN." The post added, "These are not Americans."

As of Oct. 19, the post had drawn more than 2.7 million views and 104,000 likes.

Comments on the post called for Fai to be deported, the Oregon Journalism Project reported.

The account has been linked to false claims about Haitian refugees in Springfield, Ohio, according to the Oregon Journalism Project, citing a Washington Post report.

The video was reposted by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and accounts including Benny Johnson, Lara Logan and Blaze Media.

Fai, 49, lives in Aloha and is running against fellow Commissioner Pam Treece in the Nov. 3 runoff for chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners.

The board oversees the county's $2 billion annual budget. Fai led the May 19 primary with 39% of the vote to Treece's 33%, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

Fai told the Oregon Journalism Project she spoke at the Minnesota event after receiving an invitation to address young people about career ambition and hard work. She said she did not check the flag's orientation before her speech but would never display it upside down.

Hoodo Mohamed, who attended the event, told the Oregon Journalism Project the video appears to have been edited to isolate English phrases Fai used, including "people of color," "lawyer," "CEO" and "lawn mowing." The actual message, Mohamed said, was that in America, "you can make your dream come true, if you do the work."

"If I could, I would fight for this country, you know, go to war for this country," Fai told the Oregon Journalism Project. "So, I think people questioning that was the hard part for me."

The video's reach had real-world consequences. Jacob Roloff of Hillsboro attended the candidates forum Oct. 15 and said he saw an older woman confront Fai, apparently believing the video was real.

Fai came to the United States as a teenager from Somalia. She won her commission seat in 2020, becoming the first Black and first Muslim commissioner elected to the Washington County board, according to The Oregonian. The chair race has already seen upheaval: former Chair Kathryn Harrington resigned in September, six days after she was caught on camera making an obscene gesture toward Fai during a board meeting.

The Oregon Democratic Party called the video "abhorrent" in a post on X on Oct. 19 and called for AI regulation to prevent misinformation.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 election were mailed Oct. 14.