Donald Trump's campaign accused of Photoshopping white model 'to make her black'

Twitter users have said the image is 'not even a good Photoshop'

The image has since been taken down from Donald Trump's apparel clothing store (Twitter, Eric Ming)

Donald Trump's campaign has been accused of changing the skin colour of a model wearing his election merchandise to make her appear black.

A photo on his campaign clothing store showed a black female model wearing a grey T-shirt - in an apparently identical shot to another clothing store photo in which the model is white.

The two images have prompted criticism and debate online among Mr Trump's supporters and opponents, with many resorting to heavy irony in their disbelief.

"Heaven forbid Trump would actually use someone of actual brown colour in their ads," one Twitter user wrote.

Another asked: "Is Trump's campaign tacitly admitting they have an ethnic problem?"

The business mogul, who took seven states on Super Tuesday in a sweep that makes his path to the Republican nomination in the race for the White House difficult to derail, has called Mexicans "rapists" and said he would prevent all Muslims from entering the US.

He was also recently criticised by fellow Republican contender Marco Rubio for blaming a faulty earpiece on a refusal to disavow the Ku Klux Klan.

Asked about support given him by former "Grand Wizard" of the white supremacist group David Duke, Mr Trump repeatedly said he "didn't know" and then later said a "lousy earpiece" had prevented him condemning the group.

Twitter user Will Poundstone said in the T-shirt model discussion: "You try finding a person of colour willing to model a Trump shirt."

The grey T-shirt featured the 69-year-old's slogan: "Trump - Make America Great Again."

Its similarity to a picture on JCG Apparel's site was first tweeted by Eric Ming, digital director for Democrat senator candidate Donna Edwards, who said: "So it appears Donald Trump's campaign photshopped their model to be brown."

Several people also commented on the unnatural shade of skin tone used in the image, likening it to Mr Trump's own orange spray-tan appearance.

"It's not even a good Photoshop, too. The brown skin is so flat and featureless, barely any shadows," said Twitter user Haru Bell.

The image has since been taken down from the Republican front-runners apparel site.