US President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy over the weekend by sharing a post on his social media platform that falsely claimed former President Joe Biden died in 2020 and was replaced by clones.
The post, originally shared on Truth Social, declared: "There is no Joe Biden - executed in 2020. Biden clones, doubles and robotic engineered soulless, mindless entities are what you see." The post ended with a series of hashtags and claimed "Democrats don't know the difference."
Trump reposted the claim without adding any commentary, leading to criticism online for amplifying a conspiracy theory.
The post was part of a series of links Trump shared on Saturday night, many of which focused on his efforts to revive American steel manufacturing. However, the inclusion of a post promoting unfounded claims about Biden's identity stood out and drew attention.
This comes even as Trump recently issued a statement wishing Biden a speedy recovery following reports of his cancer diagnosis.
"Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis," Trump wrote. "We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery."
Earlier, Trump called his predecessor Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis "very sad" before accusing former White House staff and the Biden family of "not telling the facts." Casting doubts over the timing of the announcement, the Republican leader said he was "surprised" the public wasn't informed sooner about Biden's condition.
"I think it's very sad, actually. I'm surprised that it wasn't, you know -- the public wasn't notified a long time ago," Trump said while talking to reporters in the Oval Office.
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