GOP Lawmakers Fuel ‘Body Double’ Conspiracy Theories Despite Debunking

Two Arizona Republican lawmakers have come under scrutiny for sharing debunked conspiracy theories involving President Joe Biden. Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, shared a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter, falsely claiming First Lady Jill Biden was in two places at once—Paris and Washington, D.C. The post insinuated the use of a body double, despite the photos being taken hours apart, as reported by PolitiFact.

Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, also shared similar misinformation. He reposted an item by former CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson, who has previously made debunked claims linking vaccines to autism. Attkisson reposted another user’s claim that Biden looked taller in recent footage, suggesting the use of a body double.

Neither Rogers nor Chaplik have responded to multiple requests for comments regarding their posts. Queries remain unanswered whether they were aware that the information has been debunked or that it came from sources known for spreading misinformation.

The body double conspiracy is not new. Last year, the QAnon community circulated similar theories about Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who had suffered a stroke in 2022. The QAnon conspiracy claims a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a global sex-trafficking ring controls world governments and opposes former President Donald Trump.

QAnon followers are encouraged to perform their “research,” leading to various iterations of their beliefs. Some claim Q, the supposed insider, is John F. Kennedy Jr., who died in 1999. Others believe Q is Trump himself. Conspiracy theorists have used the body double idea to propagate numerous false claims, including those about vaccines and the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

There is no evidence to suggest that either President Biden or the First Lady use body doubles.

Photo by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0