Fact Check: Has Biden's ‘body double’ agreed to testify before FBI?

WASHINGTON, DC: Former President Joe Biden’s time in office was repeatedly overshadowed by bizarre and unverified conspiracy theories claiming he was using a “body double” during several public appearances.

The “body double” conspiracy theory first began circulating in 2022, surfacing alongside growing public concerns about Biden's flailing health in the final years of his tenure as President.

However, the claim was quickly debunked, as no credible evidence ever surfaced to support the theory that Biden used a body double.

Yet years after being buried by fact-checkers, the conspiracy theory has crawled back into the spotlight and is once again spreading across the internet.

This time, the rumours are claiming that the "actor" who played Biden's "body double" has purportedly agreed to testify before the FBI and "turn state's evidence."

Claim: Biden's ‘body double’ has agreed to testify before FBI

The claims were first triggered by a verified X account named War Correspondent, which claimed that the actor who ended up playing Joe Biden's body double for nearly two years will turn state's evidence to avoid jail time.

The report claims to cite two anonymous sources, who noted that "the suspect was hired to stand in one place for ten minutes. That's how it began."

“Before he knew it, the subject was sitting behind the Resolute Desk and taking calls from foreign leaders. 'A birthday party impressionist ended up the leader of the free world, if only for a few minutes here and there,'" the report further claimed.

“Dozens of West Wing staffers were complicit in pulling off the ruse. The whole building had to be in on it,” it stated.

The post has racked up more than 680,000 views, with a large number of users appearing to support the claim in the comments.

Fact check: False, conspiracy theory with zero credible evidence

The claims circulating online are false and rooted in a baseless conspiracy theory, with no credible evidence from reliable sources, official documents, medical records, journalism, or eyewitness accounts to support them.

If the event had truly taken place in Washington, DC, it likely would have received extensive media coverage, given the dramatic nature of the claim.

Instead, the story circulated solely through viral social media posts without any verified evidence supporting it.

The claims appear to have resurfaced following the release of over 3 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, in which one of the raw documents released claims that Biden was replaced by a body double after getting shot in a 2019 incident.  

However, the claims were debunked quickly as there is no record of any shooting attempt on Joe Biden in 2019. Moreover, the specific claim appears in an unverified, anonymous, or third-party email/submission (referenced in sources with codes like EFTA00173266 or similar batches from Dataset 9) in the Epstein files.