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By Gerrard Kaonga
US News Reporter
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Social media users have started spreading conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden following a video where he keeps his eyes open noticeably wide.
A video posted to Biden's Twitter page earlier this week has sparked a series of conspiracy theories about the president online.
In the video posted on Tuesday, Biden, who has just recovered from COVID, condemns former President Donald Trump and his role in the January 6 Capitol Riots.
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However, viewers were drawn to Biden's appearance, most notably how wide he kept his eyes open in the 17-second clip.
Some Twitter users have claimed the White House used a body double for the video while others have said CGI or green screens were used due to his eyes being open so wide and the president not blinking.
"You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-cop. You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy. You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-American," Biden said in the clip that has now been viewed more than 7.8 million times.
"Donald Trump lacked the courage to act. The brave women and men in blue all across this nation should never forget that."
Shayan Sardarizadeh, a journalist who reports on online disinformation and conspiracy theories for the BBC, shared to his Twitter some of the conspiracy theory ideas that some Twitter users have been sharing.
"The CGI/deepfake/green screen/body double/ hologram/ cloned Joe Biden crew are back with another episode of their nonsense," he tweeted.
One Twitter user, Fives Times August, posted two pictures of Biden, one from the video he released and another from a separate video, side by side.
"Two videos posted within a couple of hours of each other. I mean... you tell me what's going on here," the Twitter user captioned their tweet.
They also shared a video to their Twitter feed showing two videos of Biden and questioning why Biden's voice and appearance appear different.
Commenting on the video, one Twitter user wrote: "My eye can detect the uncanny valley instantly.
"This is 100% deepfake technology. They pasted Biden's face on an actor. I'd bet my career on it."
"Uncanny valley" is a term used to describe unease caused by a computer-generated figure.
Another social media user shared four pictures of Biden and claimed "2 more new Joe Biden's have dropped, to go along with the previous 4" in a suggestion there have been multiple Bidens over the years.
Sardarizadeh also shared some other tweets that have begun circulating on Twitter and highlighted that some of them come from individuals with large followings on Twitter.
"These people have enormous platforms and are supposed to be authoritative, trustworthy sources of information for their audiences," he said.
"Never mind all that, what's up with this fake Joe Biden CGI."
Fox News' Tucker Carlson joined in on the speculation and suggested that Biden's wide eyes were a result of something that he had been given at the White House.
"It clear that the White House had him on something, we don't mean that new COVID drug, look at his eyes.
"This was taken from a video on Biden's Twitter account, he doesn't blink in the video.
"Ask yourself, have you ever see Joe Biden's eyes that wide open? Whatever he is taking ought to be publicly available for all of us. Share it man," he said.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
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