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06/01/24 1:28 PM
Joe Biden 'Clone' Conspiracy Theory Spreads on Facebook
The latest bizarre conspiracy theory to circulate on Facebook claims President Joe Biden may actually be a "clone" because the real one is either in custody or executed. The platform told Newsweek it is investigating.
A Telegram post from Nicholas Veniamin, a U.K.-based supporter of former President Donald Trump who creates video content rallying against the so-called "Deep-State," made the outlandish claim last week.
His Telegram channel has more than 100,000 subscribers and his Biden clone post is now beginning to spread on Facebook. There was a corresponding spike in Google searches for "Biden clone."
Veniamin has a group pumping out conspiracies on Facebook and well-followed accounts on Twitter and YouTube, maintaining a presence on these social media platforms despite Big Tech's crackdown on misinformation.
On Telegram, the following message was shared alongside an old photograph of Biden: "This is the real Joe Biden. Either he was executed for treason or he is alive in custody.
"The Joe Biden we see today is a lookalike, double or clone being used by Trump, military / alliance to help wake up the masses to see what America would have been like if the New World Order had been successful.
Fortunately, Vlademir [sic] Putin says, that the New World Order has failed, and President Trump says, he is going to take back the White House soon!
Newsweek has contacted Facebook for comment. Facebook, which is investigating the clone posts, does not remove "false news" as a matter of policy, though does work to limit their spread in users' feeds.
In its community standards, Facebook states: "Reducing the spread of false news on Facebook is a responsibility that we take seriously." It goes on to brand doing so "a challenging and sensitive issue."
"We want to help people stay informed without stifling productive public discourse," says Facebook's community standards.
"There is also a fine line between false news and satire or opinion. For these reasons, we don't remove false news from Facebook, but instead significantly reduce its distribution by showing it lower in the News Feed.
As well as the message circulating on Facebook, Veniamin also discussed this theory in a video post shared on BitChute in May. Veniamin refers to Biden looking different now in comparison with old photographs to justify his claim.
In the video, he suggested Biden looked like a "complete different person" in recent appearances compared to photos of him from the past.
He discussed this with Scott McKay, an online radio talk show host whose Twitter bio describes him as a "Q-Patriot Street Fighter," who also said he was sure that the Biden seen now is not the same person seen in the past.
The pair talked about Biden being a "clone" as a potential explanation.
McKay went on to reference "Q intelligence drops," the information behind the QAnon conspiracy theory. He also suggested a "secret space program" had been "cloning people for a long time." A trained lookalike or artificial intelligence were also touted.
Veniamin has more than 48,000 subscribers on BitChute. On Telegram, Veniamin describes himself as "an international independent journalist in the alternative news media, broadcasting for 'We The People'."
Newsweek has contacted Veniamin and McKay for comment.
It is not the first time such claims have been made. In December 2020, Snopes fact-checked false claims Biden has a body double, a theory based around photographs of his earlobes because they supposedly looked different in various appearances.
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