An image shared on Facebook nearly 500 times purportedly shows Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in his youth wearing a Che Guevara shirt.

Verdict: False

The image has been photoshopped. The original shows de Blasio wearing a “Roma” shirt.

Fact Check:

The black-and-white image being shared shows a young de Blasio looking at the camera while allegedly wearing a shirt imprinted with the face of Guevara. The caption reads, “Young Bill DeBlasio [sic], current NYC mayor. No comment!!”

The image of Guevara that purportedly appears printed on de Blasio’s shirt is a stylized reproduction of a well-known photo of the revolutionary. Guevara was a prominent Marxist figure in the Cuban revolution during the late 1950s. (RELATED: No, This Video Does Not Show NYPD Clearing A Jewish Funeral With A Water Cannon)

His likeness has been superimposed onto de Blasio’s shirt. The Daily Caller News Foundation conducted a reverse-image search and discovered the original picture on photographer Todd Maisel’s website. In the original, de Blasio wears a shirt featuring the word “Roma” alongside prints of Rome’s historic buildings.

“Before becoming the Mayor of the City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, the former Bill Wilhelm, was a strong activist for student rights and at this rally at New York University on Washington Square East, he rallied with students for tuition cap at what will become the most expensive private college in the city,” reads the caption, which dates the photo to March 1981.

Freddi Goldstein, the press secretary for de Blasio’s office, confirmed the image “is photoshopped” in an email to the DCNF.

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