The Oregon Journalism Project retracted its story about Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai. The outlet had called a viral video of Fai speaking in front of an upside-down American flag a deepfake, but new images confirmed the flag was, in fact, inverted.

As we reported Oct. 19, the Oregon Journalism Project's (OJP) original story described the video as artificially manipulated and cited a screenshot credited to Fai showing the flag right-side up.

That screenshot now appears to have been altered. The Beaverton Valley Times reported visual inconsistencies in the image: a section of the flag in the lower-left corner appears misaligned, and a corner of a star appears missing near the top. It remains unclear who created the image.

OJP said in its editor's note that it interviewed Fai on Oct. 16. A campaign supporter then provided a different video showing the flag right-side up. After publication, readers raised questions, and OJP obtained new images proving the flag had been upside down.

"OJP regrets the error," the note stated.

The controversy traces to an Oct. 10 event in Minneapolis. Fai is running for Washington County Board of Commissioners chair against fellow Commissioner Pam Treece in the Nov. 3 election. Video of Fai speaking in front of the inverted flag spread widely on social media, shared by right-wing accounts and commentators including Sean Hannity, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

Fai told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday that her campaign did not send the image to OJP. The outlet's retraction confirmed it came from a campaign supporter. Brook Hill, Fai's campaign manager, initially told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday, Oct. 19, she would provide original video showing the flag positioned correctly. She later reversed course, writing that the campaign had "no online material produced or approved by the campaign" related to the video.

Before the retraction, the Democratic Party of Oregon and U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter issued statements condemning the video as a deepfake. The party's post has since been deleted, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Fai, who lives in Aloha and came to the United States from Somalia as a teenager, said on Tuesday she did not know how the flag was oriented when she was on stage. "I love this country … I respect this country. This country has given me so much," Fai told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The Beaverton Valley Times reported that Fai did not respond to its request for comment. The election is less than two weeks away.