Conspiracy theorists believe the letter from President Joe Biden announcing his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race is an elaborate fake.
Biden shared the letter to social media on Sunday, causing right-wing internet users to make unsubstantiated claims that it was proof of an internal coup against the current president.
Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer argued that Biden was not at all involved with the letter and was instead being pushed out of the race against his will.
“Did you notice the Biden drop out letter isn’t on official letterhead?” Loomer said.
Loomer also thinks Biden was “too cognitively damaged to write a letter or comprehend what is going on” and that his signature was likely “forged” as well.
The letterhead claim was echoed by others.
“Even Nixon’s resignation letter had the Presidential seal on it. Why doesn’t Biden’s?” wrote Mike Crispi.
Others compared Biden’s signature on the letter to his signature on other official documents to prove that the president hadn’t been involved in the decision to step down.
Screenshots showing the letter’s signature next to Executive Orders signed by Biden were spread by several far-right accounts.
The topic, unsurprisingly, is also prevalent on the far-right blog the Gateway Pundit, which questioned why the decision did not come in the form of “a press conference or an official White House press release.”
The blog cites conspiracy theorists such as Dr. Naomi Wolf, who similarly felt that the signature on the letter was likely forged.
While it’s entirely possible that Biden didn’t physically type up and tweet out the letter himself, no evidence supports the notion that the letter was crafted without Biden’s knowledge or input and against his wishes.
Even billionaire Bill Ackman joined in on promoting the theory.
“One would think that a letter to the American people from the president announcing his decision to step aside would not be signed using a digital signature and would be accompanied by a photo op and a scheduled conference in the morning that followed,” Ackman said. “Instead we have a digitally signed letter released on the president’s @X account, an account we know that is run by a staffer, no photo, and no live scheduled address to the American people. If I were China, I would invade Taiwan tomorrow.”
Conservative columnist T. Becket Adams went as far as to demand “proof of life” from Biden to prove he had actually opted to step aside.
“Can we at least get a proof of life? Even a picture of him sitting next to today’s paper would suffice. They’re not really going to let this July 17 footage from Air Force One be the last known public sighting until… when, exactly?” he asked.
Ironically, despite calling Biden unfit to lead for years now, Republicans are now expressing anger over the president’s decision not to run.
The coup, as they see it, is denying the will of millions of Democrat voters and is therefore akin to election interference.
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