The claim: An image shows Joe Biden signing executive orders with his left hand, previous photos show him writing with his right hand
After conspiracy theorists falsely claimed that former first lady Melania Trump used a body double for public appearances, some social media posts have surfaced targeting President Joe Biden, accusing him of doing the same.
A viral post shared Feb. 12 compares side-by-side images of Biden signing documents with different hands in an effort to support the claim.
One photo is a recent image of Biden signing executive orders in the Oval Office with his left hand, and the other shows a photo of him supposedly writing with his right hand. A caption below the two photos reads, “Is it left-handed or right-handed?”
‘Oops. Biden’s body double is left-handed. Casting director slipped! ‘ reads a text in the post that has been shared more than 600 times.
Another Facebook user shared the same two images on Feb. 3, writing, “Okay folks here is the deal in 2008. Joe Biden is right-handed. Joe Biden in 2021 is left-handed. The stories are true that our president is a double.”
USA TODAY reached out to Facebook users for comment.
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The picture is reversed
Both photos in the post are authentic, but the more recent image of Biden in the Oval Office has been flipped to make it look like he’s writing with his left hand.
In the original photo, taken by AFP photographer Jim Watson on Jan. 20, the pocket square is on the left side of Biden’s jacket, not the right, and he writes with his right hand.
The executive orders on Biden’s desk and the American flags behind the president also appear on the other side of the photo in the authentic version.
The second photo in the post is real and was taken by White House photographer David Lienemann. However, it was not captured in 2008 as the post claims and was taken on April 14, 2010 when Biden was serving as vice president under the Obama administration.
The photo shows Biden signing a condolence book at the Polish Embassy in Washington, writing with his right hand.
Social media users have previously used this method of mirroring images to spread false claims. For example, in 2010, a flipped photo of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama was used to claim that they saluted the flag with their left hand instead of their right hand, Factcheck.org reported.
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Biden is right-handed
In an Autocomplete interview with Wired in 2020, Biden answered the most popular questions asked about him on Google, including, “Is Joe Biden left-handed?” In response, Biden confirmed that he does not write with his left hand.
Only eight presidents were left-handed. James. A Garfield was the first left-handed president, according to Potus.com. Barack Obama was the most recent.
Claims that Biden takes an individual place for public events have previously been debunked by Snopes.
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Our rating: False
Based on our investigation, a message using an altered image of President Joe Biden to claim he has a doppelganger is FALSE. A photo in the post has been digitally flipped to make it look like Biden is writing with his left hand. Biden has previously confirmed in an interview that he is right-handed, and claims that the president has a body double are not true.
Our fact-checking resources:
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Getty Images, Jan. 20, TOPSHOT US POLITICS INAUGURATION
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Factcheck.org, Jan 11, mirror image
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Flickr, April 14, 2010, Obama’s White House
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Wired, May 20, “Joe Biden Answers the Most Wanted Questions on the Internet”
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POTUS.com, left-handed
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Snopes, Dec. 17, “Did Joe Biden double the body?”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact Check: Posts use flipped photo to make false Joe Biden claims