Child-free Republican candidate Anderson runs for Congress with fake family album

The Mirror's US editor Christopher Bucktin reports on the best of the most bizarre it-could-only-happen-in-the-USA stories in his The Buck Stops Here column. This week, a Republican candidate borrows a friend's family for his campaign photos

It was Forrest Gump’s mother who said, “Stupid is as stupid does”, and that could not be more true for Republican moron Derrick Anderson.

The former US Army Green Beret is running for Congress in Virginia and has launched his election campaign with an image of a wholesome married family man with three daughters.

But it has now emerged that child-free and unmarried Derrick had actually been borrowing a friend’s missus and kids for photo ops.

In one shot, they’re all cosied up like it’s a family portrait destined for Grandma’s mantle.

In another, Anderson strolls alongside the woman like it’s a rom-com stroll. Fake views.

A Texan man decided to go completely rockstar and smash a guitar with a hammer, apparently believing it had been signed by none other than Taylor Swift.

Spoiler alert: it hadn’t been. In fact, it was about as Swift-certified as a knock-off handbag from a flea market.

The now-viral video shows the mystery man taking a tiny hammer to the guitar after reportedly dropping £3,000 on it at a charity auction. Talk about buyer’s remorse…

Over in Arkansas, a couple have taken bartering to a whole new – and wildly illegal – level.

Darien Urban, 21, and Shalene Ehlers, 20, were arrested after allegedly trying to trade their baby for a six-pack of beer and a $1,000 (£762) cheque.

It turns out they had even written a letter granting custody to Cody Martin in exchange for the goods.

The letter included a heartwarming disclaimer: “There will be no changing y’all two’s minds and to never contact again.” Because when you’re selling a baby, you’ve got to keep it professional, right?

In a plot twist no one saw coming, an Oklahoma man facing car theft charges decided to steal his own ride to court.

Unable to find a lift to his hearing, Kody Adams thought he’d steal an ambulance service’s truck instead.

Authorities allege he swiped it and drove to the courthouse like it was the most logical solution.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Adams had been hanging out at a petrol station in Stillwater, casually asking strangers for a lift to Pawnee, a 30-minute drive away.

When no one offered to be his chauffeur, he literally took matters into his own hands.

Crashing a half marathon mid-race is typically a big no-no unless, of course, you’re a goat.

Four-legged Joshua was hanging out in a nearby pumpkin patch during the inaugural T’Railway Trek in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland.

When 250 runners went trotting by, the goat’s FOMO kicked in. He broke away from his collar and joined the action – and rather than disqualify him, race officials decided to give him a medal.