The New York Daily News is being called out for allowing a political campaign to buy ad space — which it then used to create a mock front page that made it seem as though the News had endorsed the candidate.

The faux front page — which wrapped around the paper’s actual front page on Sunday — was paid for by the pro-AI Jobs and Democracy PAC, which is primarily funded by Anthropic. It depicted Alex Bores — a Democrat running in the crowded primary in New York’s 12th congressional district — with the headline, “Taking on the Powerful and Standing Up for Us!”

The mock front page also implored readers to “Send a Fighter to Washington.” A “paid political advertisement” disclosure was written in much smaller print at the top of the page, and the disclosure of the PAC that paid for the ad was written in even smaller print on the bottom. The ad clearly seemed designed to give readers the impression that the Daily News had endorsed Bores.

LA Times media reporter Stephen Battaglio called out the Daily News in a post on X, which included an image of the phony front page.

“I know standards are now gone,” Battaglio wrote. “But a faux front page ad for a candidate? Not good @NYDailyNews.”

Other observers were critical as well.

The wraparound faux front-page ad has become a staple of the New York tabloids. But generally, they involve promoting a particular product — making it much clearer to readers that they’re looking at an ad.

The ad is the latest chapter in a bizarre congressional race that has been nothing short of a circus. Bores, George Conway, and Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg are among those jostling in a crowded field for the right to advance to a general election that Democrats are heavily favored to win.

Conway, the ex-husband of President Donald Trump’s former top aide Kellyanne Conway, drew the ire of the White House last week with a campaign ad in which he vowed to help send Trump to jail.

And Schlossberg has drawn unflattering headlines throughout the campaign — with many questioning his qualifications, ability, and interest in the position.

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