Original article (in Albanian) was published on 10/06/2025; Author: Barbara Halla
A conspiracy theory is spreading on Albanian-language social media claiming that former U.S. President Joe Biden was killed in 2020 and replaced by a clone who assumed his position. The post also includes false information about Biden’s origin, as well as antisemitic remarks.
Fortunately, these are unfounded claims rooted in conspiracy theories that emerged several years ago on forums such as QAnon. There is no medical or scientific proof to support them. Biden is alive and has recently spoken publicly about health concerns, including a prostate cancer diagnosis.
The Facebook post begins by claiming that Biden was killed on January 17, 2020, using as evidence a post made by the current U.S. President, Donald Trump. On May 31, Trump shared on the social media platform Truth Social a post from a user claiming that Biden had died and been replaced by a robotic clone. Truth Social, a platform created by Trump after he was banned from other networks for spreading misinformation, is known as a space that promotes false news. According to USA Today, Trump has frequently shared conspiracy theories.
Trump’s remarks came after his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called on former First Lady Jill Biden to speak about her husband’s health issues. Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race following widespread criticism regarding his mental abilities. Despite these issues, there is no evidence that Biden has died.
Although he distanced himself from Trump in May, this conspiracy theory has been circulating online for several years and originated from far-right forums. Since 2023, when Biden started his campaign to be re-elected as U.S. president, conspiracy theories have spread on social media claiming that he had died, along with Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Besides the claims about his life, the Albanian post also alleges that Biden presents himself as Jewish and has Ukrainian ancestry, which Biden has never claimed. In fact, he has often spoken about being Catholic. Furthermore, Biden does not have Ukrainian origins but Irish, as he himself has stated and as shown in the biography written by Jules Witcover in 2010. Joe Biden’s great-grandparents have roots in Ireland dating back at least to the 19th century.
On Facebook, it is also stated that Biden ‘owns 32,000 km of underground tunnel networks used for trafficking children and people, human organs, adrenochrome, drugs, and weapons’. This is completely false. There is no proof that Biden owns any property in Ukraine, let alone tunnels used for human trafficking. While Biden was president, some conspiracy theories claimed that he or his son Hunter Biden had properties or economic ties in Ukraine, but these have been thoroughly debunked by trustworthy fact-checking organizations.
