NYC-CC29: Queens City Council candidate Jonathan Rinaldi (R) accused of posting fabricated endorsements
Queens City Council candidate Jonathan Rinaldi has been accused of using a number of doctored and AI-created images to fabricate endorsements from elected officials in his race against incumbent Democratic Council Member Lynn Schulman in District 29, which Rinaldi has denied.
Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to Rinaldi, the Republican candidate for the district, have posted a number of fake newspaper articles reporting on apparently false endorsements from elected officials across the city.
The posts contained fabricated headlines from outlets including the Associated Press, the New York Post, QNS sister publication amNewYork and the Queens Daily Eagle and boast of endorsements from a slew of New York City elected officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi, Council Member Robert Holden and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Several elected officials and news outlets have denied ever endorsing Rinaldi in the race.
https://qns.com/2025/10/rinaldi-fabricated-endorsements-accusations/