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A Republican congressional candidate posed for a photo with a woman and three young girls in an image that could be mistaken for a family holiday card.
But the picture — posted on the National Republican Campaign Committee website to promote Derrick Anderson’s campaign, and included in a video on his campaign’s YouTube account — is not a family photo at all.
They are the wife and children of Anderson’s friend.
Anderson, a former Army Green Beret running for a seat in Congress in Virginia, also was filmed with the woman and her children in footage that was posted to his YouTube channel.
The candidate does not have children of his own and is not married. He has separately announced that he is engaged, and has filmed himself with his fiancee.
He lives with his dog, according to his campaign website.
The source of the images surfaced in a story from The New York Times titled “G.O.P. Candidates, Looking to Soften Their Image, Turn to Their Wives” that outlined how Republican campaigns are relying on their families as the fight for abortion rights and reproductive healthcare access takes center stage in 2024 elections.
The story noted how male anti-abortion Republicans who are “struggling to appeal to female voters concerned about their records on reproductive rights” are now “unleashing their spouses to make the pitch on their behalf.”
Another image of Anderson with a young girl appears in a campaign mailer.
Anderson celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v Wade in 2022, writing on Twitter at the time that the justice “finally got it right” and “overturned a 50 year decision of federalizing abortions.”
That widely unpopular decision from the court’s conservative majority struck down a constitutional right to abortion care that was affirmed by the court in 1973, and has left it up to individual states to legislate abortion care, including deciding whether to criminalize access.
Asked repeatedly whether he “supports a woman’s right to choose”, during a candidate forum this month, Anderson said that “each state is going to have to make a determination that best fits their states.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance has faced ongoing scrutiny for misogynist remarks about “childless cat ladies” wielding political power, while his GOP allies have criticized Democratic rival Kamala Harris for her relationship with her stepchildren.
The Independent has requested comment from Anderson’s campaign.
The footage of the woman and three girls posing with Anderson has not been used in any campaign ad other than a video on Anderson’s official YouTube page and in a website paid for by the National Republican Campaign Committee.
A spokesman for Anderson criticized The Times for focusing on the footage, saying that his Democratic opponent Eugene Vindman and “every other candidate in America are in similar pictures and video with supporters of all kinds.”
