During his tenure, former President Donald Trump disseminated a completely incorrect allegation regarding his predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump amplified the claim that Biden had been liquidated and subsequently replaced with a robotic clone. Trump has flirted with other conspiracy theories in his time, such as suggesting Biden used an autopen for official signatures and endorsing the fundamentally incorrect theory that Barack Obama was not an American by birth.
Again, the record must be set straight: Biden has neither been executed nor has he been supplanted by synthetic or clonal versions of himself. This preposterous notion was first proposed in a post on Truth Social, which Trump then recirculated on May 31. The user involved suggested that Biden had been ‘executed in 2020’ and was now replaced by ‘clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities’.
This is not the first time Trump has dabbled in promoting conspiracy theories after his return to power. A key point to note here is that Biden has not been duplicated or robotically auto-engineered, as per the original post’s suggestion. Biden served as president from 2021 until 2025.
Biden’s decision to withdraw from re-election contention was precipitated by a rocky presidential debate that cast doubts on his cognitive fitness for office. As the oldest person to have held the office of president, questions about his mental capacity were repeatedly raised. In the thick of all this, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, sparked controversy when she urged Jill Biden, Biden’s wife and former first lady, to address these speculations.
Compounding this was her assertion that Jill Biden was complicit in concealing her husband’s waning cognitive health from the public eye. In the month of May, ex-president Biden shared his diagnosis of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his bones. Amid all the turmoil, Biden maintained a sanguine outlook concerning his treatment options.
On the home turf of Delaware, during a press statement, Biden commented, ‘The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this.’ His words conveyed an undeterred spirit and commitment to overcoming his health struggles.
Trump, meanwhile, continued to give credence to the unfounded Joe Biden autopen conspiracy. Trump expressed his belief that a number of Biden’s presidential pardons were null and void since they were reportedly authorised with an autopen. Notably, the Department of Justice established in 2005 that autopen signatures were legally acceptable for a President.
Despite this, Biden’s controversial pardons for family members and others whom he believed would be subjected to political vendettas under Trump, invited criticism. Equipped with the news of Biden’s deteriorating health, the ex-president magnified the unsupported allegations that Biden had used the autopen without his explicit acknowledgment.
As these suspicions gain traction, Trump has prophesied that the autopen scandal will reach monumental proportions. His words during a press conference say it all: ‘I think the autopen is gonna become one of the great scandals of all time.’ His skepticism extends to all the directives and decrees signed by Biden, with Trump questioning their validity and influence on the country.
Trump further commented on his personal preference of seldom using the autopen, viewing it as unnecessary except in specific situations. This is, however, not his first sortie into the realm of conspiracy theories concerning other presidents.
For years leading up to his initial term in the White House, Trump endorsed unfounded accusations that former President Obama was not born in America. Eventually, shortly before assuming office, he publicly acknowledged, for the first time, that Obama was indeed a U.S. citizen. Despite this, he maintained that he had won the presidential election for a period exceeding his term.
Contrary to his claims, it was Joe Biden who emerged victorious in the presidential race. In his subsequent administration, Trump made some eyebrow-raising appointments. He named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a man who had previously faced allegations of disseminating anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
Further adding to his controversial decisions, he offered a position to Kash Patel; an individual often associated with promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about federal employees in relation to the Capitol insurrection. In a surprising move, Trump directed for the disclosure of classified information regarding the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, a subject of extensive speculation.
Lastly, during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump voiced his opinion that farmers of white descent were experiencing genocide in South Africa. To sum it up, former president Trump’s actions and statements have continued to stoke the flames of multiple conspiracy theories, regardless of their accuracy.