AZ GOP Lawmakers Fuel Discredited ‘Body Double’ Theories

In a controversial move, two Republican state lawmakers from Arizona have disseminated a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory asserting that President Joe Biden employs body doubles.

Senator Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff recently shared a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) alleging First Lady Jill Biden was in both Paris and Washington, D.C., simultaneously. However, PolitiFact clarified that these events took place many hours apart, debunking Rogers’ claim.

Rogers added to the speculation by questioning, “Body double?” This echoes a similar falsehood suggesting the Biden family uses body doubles for nefarious reasons. Representative Joseph Chaplik of Scottsdale also engaged with the conspiracy, amplifying a post by ex-CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson, who has previously propagated the debunked link between vaccines and autism.

Attkisson’s post suggested that a body double would be “flawless” and tough to detect unless intentionally revealed, sparking further speculation online. The original post was from a user who speculated Biden was taller in certain footage, a baseless claim ridiculed for its lack of credible evidence.

Rogers did not stop there; she shared additional spurious claims that Biden’s height had changed and that his alleged death was being covered up. Both Chaplik and Rogers have not responded to requests for comments on these now-debunked assertions.

The concept of body doubles is not new. The QAnon community last year promoted a similar conspiracy involving Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman after he suffered a stroke. They falsely claimed he had been replaced by a look-alike.

QAnon’s broader theory posits an outlandish narrative where a global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles controls governments and targets former President Donald Trump, who purportedly fights against them. Adherents, encouraged to conduct their own “research,” spawn various and often contradictory beliefs, including that Q, the supposed insider sharing secret information, could be the late John F. Kennedy Jr. or Trump himself.

Conspiracy theorists have historically used body double claims to support numerous baseless allegations, ranging from false vaccine narratives to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Senator Rogers, an advocate of multiple conspiracy theories, is no stranger to promoting such unfounded claims.

No credible evidence supports the notion that President Joe Biden or his family uses body doubles.