Janice R. Andrews
A strange belief that President Joe Biden was either “dying or possibly already dead” has captured the attention of some social media users in recent weeks. Despite being unfounded, this assertion—which was made by a number of right-wing commentators and influencers—gained a lot of popularity. Several of these conspiracy theorists had a dilemma when President Biden reappeared after a brief period of seclusion related to COVID-19: acknowledge their mistake or go on promoting false narratives.
Everlasting Assertions and Growing Doubts
In July, a research conducted by NewsGuard, a business that specialises in detecting internet disinformation, found that 19 well-known accounts on platform X (previously Twitter) disseminated the idea regarding Biden’s health. After Biden’s comeback, The New York Times monitored these accounts to see how they responded. The findings were telling: the majority of reports either doubled down on new conspiracy theories or ignored the data that refuted their assertions. Even after some admitted they were mistaken, some continued to speculate.
The craze around Biden’s health highlights a larger trend in the conspiracy theory community. These myths have a tendency to spread quickly, and even when they are refuted, the people who propagate them seldom take back what they have said.
Amplification via Social Media
Posts with the phrases “dead” or “died” had almost half a million mentions and over 4 million interactions in a single week on X, indicating a high level of participation with the conversation around Biden’s purported death, according to NewsGuard. The total views of two especially popular postings endorsing the notion exceeded 85 million.
Analysis by Influencers
NewsGuard discovered 19 accounts, all of which were contacted by The Times. Reactions differed:
Comedian Terrence K. Williams was adamant that “Joe Biden is dying.”
- Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer maintained her assertion that Biden was “terminally ill,” adding that she thought he had “a year or less” to live.
- Podcaster Charlie Kirk said he thought Biden was still alive and stated his article was based on police conjecture.
- Radio presenter Stew Peters asked Biden’s team to provide “legitimate proof of life”.
Some influencers made the decision to remain silent, declining to address their prior assertions or to reply to demands for comment.
Persistent Uncertainties and Dual-Body Theories
Several influences continued to cast doubt on Biden even after his public appearances. Between July 23 and 25, there was a 74% increase in “body double” mentions on X when compared to the two days prior, according to NewsGuard’s Sarah Komar and Jack Brewster. Kirk, who had been heavily pushing the death argument, raised an intriguing point about why Biden seemed to “bow out” during a national speech.
The persistence of these hypotheses in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary exposes a troubling trend: those who stand to gain financially from the dissemination of false information frequently encourage it on social media.
Increase in Number of Followers
Ironically, these influencers’ popularity increased while disseminating misleading information. Instead, following gains were seen in all monitored accounts following the conspiracy theory article. According to Social Blade, a social media analytics company, Kirk, for instance, increased his following by about 50,000 in the two days that followed his viral post on July 22. This is a notable rise from his typical daily gain of about 2,000 followers.
Regarding this issue, Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Centre for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, said: “These influencers don’t seem to lose influence when they get it blatantly wrong.” It just goes to demonstrate that individuals prefer to accept incorrect information if it fits with their preconceived notions or current prejudices, even after learning that it is untrue.”
Partially Acknowledging the Truth
A minority of the stories, such as those of Breck Worsham and Bret Weinstein, admitted their error but hurriedly adopted alternative hypotheses. After Biden was spotted boarding Air Force One, Worsham refuted her allegation that he was going to die soon, although she did say the whole thing was a diversion from other news. Weinstein conjectured that a manipulator of public opinion had made him and other sceptics look dumb.
Continuing
Many accounts chose to completely disregard the debunking and quickly shifted their attention to other targets, including Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris. With this tactic, their prior falsehoods were successfully obscured by a deluge of fresh material.
NewsGuard’s Jack Brewster observed that it is more difficult to hold individuals responsible in the current media environment, saying, “It’s much harder to hold people accountable for things they said in the past in this news cycle and fractured media landscape.”
Results
A lot may be learnt about the nature of conspiracy theories in the internet age from the story of Biden’s purported death and the responses of those who disseminated the rumour. Rather than owning up to their mistakes, many influencers decide to double down or change their emphasis in the face of overwhelming data that contradicts their assertions. This pattern emphasises how difficult it is to fight false information and hold those who spread it accountable in a time where sensationalism frequently takes precedence over the facts.
