Queens council candidate flaunts fake endorsements and doctored news articles
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An account belonging to Queens City Council Candidate Johnathan David Rinaldi posted fake news stories announcing made-up endorsements on social media. Screenshots via Johnathan David Rinaldi/Facebook
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.
An account belonging to Queens City Council Candidate Johnathan David Rinaldi posted fake news stories announcing made-up endorsements on social media. Screenshots via Johnathan David Rinaldi/Facebook
“Lies, deceit and misinformation have no place in our community,” Schulman said in a statement. “My opponent has decided that his best path to victory is by lying about me and creating fake news to divide our community.”
“Any person who would stoop to creating and publishing fake news and AI videos to divide the community is wholly unfit to serve in elected office,” the councilmember added.
Rinaldi denied posting the images and claimed his accounts were hacked in a text exchange with the Eagle.
Rinaldi initially sent the Eagle a video of a speech he gave at a recent Community Board 9 meeting about the dangers of AI.
When asked about his campaign account’s apparent use of AI, Rinaldi said he didn’t know what the Eagle was referring to.
When the Eagle sent him the images, he responded, “Oh yeah, my accounts got hacked.”
“My accounts have definitely been hacked and I’m looking into it,” he said.
Rinaldi claimed that the hack occurred after he gave the speech at the community board meeting in September. However, his accounts have been posting what appear to be AI-created images since April.
When asked about the posts claiming he was endorsed by Cuomo, Holden and Hevesi, Rinaldi said, “That’s great news.”
“Where did you see that?” he added.
“I’m happy the community is getting behind my message,” he added after being told again that the endorsements, none of which are real, were posted to his social media pages.
An account belonging to Queens City Council Candidate Johnathan David Rinaldi posted fake news stories announcing made-up endorsements on social media. Screenshots via Johnathan David Rinaldi/Facebook
Despite being asked a number of additional questions by the Eagle, Rinaldi ended the exchange by claiming that he was “looking into” the hack.
“I’m sorry I couldn't be of more help,” he said.
Rinaldi gained notoriety in Queens’ political community several years ago after he yelled at and was accused of harassing his political opponents.
“You talk to me like that, I’m gonna catch you outside and make you show you what a white supremacist is!” Rinaldi yelled at Councilmember Jim Gennaro in a video City & State reported on in 2023. “Yeah, you better believe it’s a threat. You want to insult me? I’ll whoop your ass!”
On Election Day last year, Rinaldi was arrested for yelling in a polling site.
The chair of the Queens County Republican Party, which has not endorsed Rinaldi, distanced the party from the candidate on Monday.
“It’s beyond belief, I can't believe someone would do that,” said Tony Nunziato, the party’s leader. “We don't want any part of it.”
Republican Council Candidate Johnathan David Rinaldi claims that a hacker posted images and fake stories advertising for his campaign. Image via Rinaldi’s campaign website
According to Nunziato, Rinaldi did not solicit the club’s endorsement this year, but did last year and was rejected.
“It was just totally not proper, the way he was handling things, threatening people,” Nunziato said.
The use of AI in politics has become more and more popular in recent months.
Before the primaries, the Eagle reported on the undisclosed use of AI by City Council candidate Ruben Wills.
Cuomo and Adams have used AI several times in their mayoral campaigns.
New York state law allows political candidates to use AI in campaign ads, as long as it is noted that the tool was used.
“This is something I was always worried about with AI,” Queens Councilmember and Republican Minority Leader Joann Ariola said when asked about Rinaldi’s posts. “People are creating their own realities, and it could be used to trick people who aren’t paying close attention.”
Michael Nussbaum, the Eagle’s publisher, demanded Rinaldi take the images of the fake stories down.
“As the publisher of the Queens Eagle, Mr. Rinaldi can expect legal action to prevent him from further use of our image in a distorted and fake use of our logo,” Nussbaum said.
Update: This story was updated with comment from Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi at 5:03 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.
