Virginia GOP Candidate Derrick Anderson criticized for a photo shoot with a ‘fake’ family

GOP’s House candidate from Virginia’s 7th district, Derrick Anderson, found himself in the eye of a storm after he posted a picture of himself with a woman and some kids.

He was trying to pass off the picture as a family photo.

In another picture, he can be seen with the same group of people seated in a dining space.

So one may ask, what is the controversy?

Derrick Anderson is single and has no family. However, as per his campaign, he is engaged but does not have a wife or children, and his website states that he lives alone with his dog.

The GOP’s House candidate from Virginia’s 7th district admitted that he borrowed his friend’s wife and children to pose for a ‘family photo’.

Worse, the picture was later circulated by the National Republican Congressional Committee as part of the Republican Party campaign.

Netizens have taken to social media to lament the Republican candidate for ‘borrowing a family.’ The picture soon went viral, and it was the NYT that first reported the incident.

Derrick Anderson has been indicted for using a fake family picture to promote himself as a family man.

Here are some of the reactions to his actions:

A Democrat from Texas wrote:

“New levels of weird and creepy. A Republican candidate in an open house seat in Virginia, Derrick Anderson, has taken posed family-style photos with people WHO HE IS NOT RELATED TO. THESE ARE NOT HIS CHILDREN AND THAT AIN’T HIS WIFE.”

Congressman Ted Lieu wrote:

“Dear @JDVance: You said that people without children ‘don’t really have a direct stake’ in our country. Do you think that applies to GOP candidate Derrick Anderson, who doesn’t have children but is trying to mislead voters by renting a family in his pictures? Asking for a friend.”

Virginia GOP candidate Derrick Anderson criticized for a ‘fake’ family photoshoot

The Republicans have often been labeled as weird, as JD Vance put it, especially when it comes to women who don’t have children.

One netizen commented that the overbearing sentiments among Republicans are that childless Americans are not normal and disturbing, and this has provoked one Republican candidate to borrow his friend’s wife and kids for a photo.

Derrick Anderson is a former Green Beret running for the House of Representatives in Virginia.

His campaign video depicts walking side by side with a woman.

In another video which was featured on the National Republican Campaign Committee’s website and on his YouTube, he can be seen speaking to the woman and the three girls while seated in a home dining room.

As per a report by Times, the woman and the girls in the video are the wife and kids of his longtime friend.

The Republican candidate has also stated on social media that he is engaged to his girlfriend, Maggie, and has posted pictures of her, which is not the woman featured in the photos and videos.

In his defence, Anderson’s spokesman told the Times that the pictures only exemplify female supporters and their kids.

Also Read: JD Vance Accused Of Renting A Dog For Election Campaign? Debunking Viral Claims