Virginia GOP candidate Derrick Anderson borrows friend's family for bizarre campaign photo

A Republican running for Congress in Virginia has gone viral after a 'family photo' he used in a campaign ad was not what it seemed. 

Derrick Anderson, an Army veteran, is attempting to flip a blue district red in 2024 after its current occupant, Abigail Spanberger, announced she would vacate to run for governor in 2025.

Anderson recently released a campaign ad that featured footage of himself with a woman and three children - what appeared to be a family photo - in an effort to play to women voters and family values.

However, the mom and three girls are in no way related to him with Anderson forced to admit they are the wife and three children of an old friend. 

Anderson even posted a video of himself and his fiancé out on the campaign trail just weeks earlier. 

He currently lives alone with his dog after getting engaged in September. 

Liberals on social media accused Anderson of lying about his family status on social media to win votes.

A Virginia Democrat wrote: 'If you think renting a crew to play house will make you relatable, you’ve officially entered the realm of the bizarre, Derrick. It’s time to get real: you can’t Photoshop authenticity!' 

'Derrick Anderson is back on the campaign trail. He probably shouldn’t continue to use My Best Friend’s Girl by The Cars as his campaign song,' joked another.

Someone else also wondered if George Santos was in charge of Anderson's campaign. 

When asked about the response to the footage, a spokesperson for Anderson said that the attacks were silly and unfair. 

'The false, politically-motivated reporting on Derrick – who is happily engaged and very proud of/vocal about his family – appearing in a normal campaign video with female supporters and their kids is both hilarious and sad,' the spokesperson told HuffPo. 

The spokesperson - who described the footage as Anderson posing 'with female supporters and their kids' - also told the New York Times that this is standard operation procedure. 

'Derrick's opponent and every other candidate in America are in similar pictures and video with supporters of all kinds,' they said. 

That opponent is Democrat Yevgeny 'Eugene' Vindman, a Ukraine native and key player alongside his brother Alexander in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump. 

The DCCC said in a statement that Anderson is using those women as a way to protect himself from attacks on abortion.

'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,' Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen said.

'He's clearly not above misleading Virginians and definitely can't be trusted to represent them in Congress.' 

Anderson, who maintains through his spokesperson he did not lie, recently penned an op-ed titled: 'Want to lower the temperature in politics? Stop the lies.'

'I’m calling on voters to reject the lies and help us unite this country. And when you see my opponent and his allies lie, call them on it. You’ll get the truth from me; demand the truth from my opponent,' he wrote in The Daily Progress. 

'Demand straight answers and zero deception. Don’t let my opponent talk out of both sides of his mouth. Demand truth, demand character. You deserve that much as voters.'

An August poll showed Anderson and Vindman tied at 41%-41%, according to WJLA. 

Cook Political Report rates the races as a 'Lean Democrat' but still called it competitive for the Republican Anderson. 

Republicans taking back the seat would likely be key to growing their slim majority in the House of Representatives.