Derrick Anderson, a Republican candidate running for Congress in the U.S. state of Virginia, landed in hot water after allegedly borrowing a friend’s family for a campaign video.

Derrick Anderson, a former Army Green Beret running for an open seat in Virginia’s 7th District, was recently accused of trying to mislead voters by posing with the wife and three daughters of a “longtime friend” and trying to pass them off as his own family. Anderson is not married, doesn’t have any children and his campaign website states that he lives with his dog. There is obviously nothing wrong with the retired Green Beret not having a family, but experts would tell you that families have long been a staple of U.S. election campaigns, and with reproductive rights being a key issue this election cycle, posing as a happy husband and father is that much more important for the Republican candidate.

Photo: Derrick Anderson for VA

In a short clip posted on Anderson’s campaign website and YouTube channel, the Republican candidate poses alongside a smiling woman and three girls in front of a suburban house and then can be seen sitting with them at the family table. They look like a happy family, but they aren’t. According to Anderson’s campaign, the video shows the veteran posing with “female supporters and their children,” but according to the New York Times, the woman and young girls in the clip are the family of one of Derrick’s longtime friends.

“Derrick Anderson is so desperate to mask his anti-abortion views and look like a family man that he’s posing for fake family pictures,” DCCC spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen said. “He’s clearly not above misleading Virginians and definitely can’t be trusted to represent them in Congress.”

 

Derrick Anderson’s campaign has slammed news reports accusing the Virginia Republican of misleading voters, claiming that the former Green Beret has been very open about his family and marital status, and clarifying that the controversial video wasn’t even used in any campaign ads. However, it’s hard to dispute the fact that stills from the clip look like family holiday cards…