Virginia Republican goes viral for posing with friend's family in campaign photo

Driving the news: Derrick Anderson, the GOP candidate in a tight race to take over Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger's seat, went viral this weekend after The New York Times wrote about him posing with the family of a "longtime friend."

• His spokesperson said the video — posted on Anderson's YouTube page — showed him "with female supporters and their kids," per the NYT, which wrote about GOP candidates' push to appeal to more women voters via their wives.

Zoom in: California Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, called it "trying to mislead voters."

• And now, under Anderson's posts, people are dubbing him "rent-a-family guy."

Between the lines: Eugene Vindman, the Democrat running against Anderson, has included his wife in ads before. But they're actually married.

A spokesperson told Axios in a follow-up statement that the Times "intentionally misled voters by falsely reporting" on Anderson, "who is happily engaged and very proud of/vocal about his family."

• "It's both hilarious and sad," the spokesperson said, before noting that "Derrick's opponent and every other candidate in America are in similar pictures and videos with supporters of all kinds."

Go deeper via the NYT