Joe Biden Is Dead Conspiracy Theory

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About

Joe Biden Is Dead Conspiracy Theory, also known as Joe Biden Died From COVID Conspiracy Theory, refers to a conspiracy theory claiming that United States President Joe Biden died in mid-July 2024 after being diagnosed with the coronavirus and dropping out of the 2024 Presidential Election, which conspiracy theorists claim is an excuse for his absence from public. Despite a lack of evidence, the conspiracy theory spread on social media in late July 2024, particularly after he endorsed his VP Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Origin

On July 17th, 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and was reportedly experiencing "mild symptoms".^[1] Biden did not appear in public for the next five days, reportedly self-isolated in his Delaware residence (seen below). On July 21st, Biden then announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 Presidential Election via a letter posted on his official social media accounts.^[2]

Several days after Biden's absence from the public, combined with questions from some regarding the authenticity of Biden's signature on the letter about his exit from reelection,^[3]^[4] a conspiracy theory claiming that Joe Biden was dead began to circulate on X / Twitter and other platforms, with conspiratorial users requesting Biden make a public appearance to dispel the rumors.

For example, on July 22nd, 2024, X^[5] user @MattWallace888 posted an AI-generated image of Joe Biden captioned, "RUMORS ARE CIRCULATING THAT JOE BIDEN IS DEAD," with the post gaining over 10,000 reposts and 77,000 likes in one day (shown below).

During this timeframe, some conservative news outlets also began covering the story and the rumors about Joe Biden supposedly "missing," such as Sky News Australia (shown below).

Spread

On July 22nd, 2024, the theory saw viral spread on X / Twitter, especially within right-wing circles, with multiple posts suggesting that Joe Biden might be dead going viral. On that day, political activist and internet personality Charlie Kirk made a post that questioned the official timeline of the events, which received over 18,000 reposts and 64,000 likes on the platform^[5] in one day (shown below).

Later that day, U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert called for "a proof of life" appearance of Joe Biden, with her post garnering over 4,400 reposts and 26,000 likes on X^[6] in one day (shown below).

More posts about the theory and memes based on it went viral on social media on July 22nd, 2024, as the conspiracy theory continued to spread.^[7] It was also discussed on various YouTube channels and media outlets. For example, The Quartering covered it on July 22nd, receiving over 206,000 views and 13,000 likes on its YouTube video in 17 hours (seen below, left).