By Ryan Schwach
A Queens City Council candidate has posted a number of seemingly doctored and AI-created images flaunting fake endorsements and made-up news articles about his campaign.
Republican candidate Johnathan David Rinaldi, who has been accused in the past of harassing his political opponents, appears to have posted stories made to look like they appeared in the Associated Press, New York Post and, most recently, the Queens Daily Eagle.
Over the last several days, Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to Rinaldi’s campaign have posted fabricated headlines boasting non-existent endorsements from former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Councilmember Bob Holden and State Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi in his race against Democratic incumbent Councilmember Lynn Schulman.
The account, which Rinaldi claims was hacked, also inaccurately claimed Mayor Eric Adams endorsed him after the two briefly interacted during a Rosh Hashanah event in September.
The most recent fake headline was posted to social media on Sunday, and shows an edited image made to look like the Queens Daily Eagle website. The fraudulent story is about an endorsement from Hevesi that reads, “Schulman’s ‘Unwavering’ [Mamdani] Support Forces Hevesi to Pivot to Rival, Backs Rinaldi for City Council.”
The headline misspells Mamdani’s name and includes a fake quote from Hevesi saying Schulman’s non-existent Mamdani endorsement harms the Jewish community.
Rinaldi ran unsuccessfully against Hevesi in 2024, losing by 17 percentage points.
“This is disinformation — it’s completely false and disgusting — but it’s what we’ve come to expect from Mr. Rinaldi and his campaign,” Hevesi said in a statement to the Eagle. “Mr. Rinaldi, with his history of lies, harassment, and misinformation, is wholly unfit to represent our constituents at any level of government. If that’s not clear enough, I will re-emphasize that I support Lynn Schulman 100 percent, and I have not – nor will I ever – endorse Jonathan Rinaldi for any position whatsoever.”
Another image posted over the weekend depicts the New York Post’s website with a headline claiming Rinaldi was endorsed by Holden.
The image in the post features an allegedly doctored picture of Holden and Rinaldi shaking hands.
“It’s a fake, AI-generated image and Holden did not endorse Rinaldi,” said Holden’s longtime Chief of Staff Daniel Kurzyna, whose name is used as the byline on the story. “He didn’t come to us or anything.”
Other apparently doctored images include an amNY editorial announcing Cuomo’s endorsement, and an Associated Press story claiming the same thing alongside an image of the pair together.
“I don’t know who that is,” Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, said when sent the two fake stories depicting Cuomo.
Rinaldi, once known in city circles as the “Sperminator” for fathering children via sperm donation, also posted doctored images of his opponent Schulman, standing next to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and wearing branded “Hot Girls for Zohran” T-shirts.
Schulman endorsed Cuomo in the primary and has yet to endorse any candidate in the general election for mayor.