A conspiracy theory that claims President Joe Biden is now tall after mysteriously growing several inches is slowly becoming the latest hot meme.

The tall Biden conspiracy theory

Last week, far-right conspiracy theorists cited a video of Biden outside the White House as proof that he had grown inexplicably. The theory alleges that Biden, who recently announced his plans to withdraw from the presidential election, has been replaced by a clone, given that he appears much taller than normal standing next to his wife Jill.

"Biden grew a few inches while he was missing for five days..." one user wrote.

The conspiracy theory comes not long after far-right figures claimed that Biden was either on death's door or outright deceased. Yet with that theory easily debunked given the president's public appearances, conservatives latched onto the Biden clone claim instead.

While Biden does look taller than his wife in the above video, the difference is attributable to the low angle of the camera as well as Jill Biden's walking a short distance behind him.

But at least some right-wing users appear to be taking the claim less seriously and have instead begun sharing memes.

Tall Biden Memes

In one example this week, a video altered by a group known as the "Dilley Meme Team" depicts Biden as even taller than before.

"Is it just me, or is Joe getting taller? Is that even Joe?" one of the meme's creators asked.

They followed up the post with an even more exaggerated Biden, who overshadowed Marine One on the White House lawn.

In that clip, Biden walks next to Jill and his son Hunter, causing the camera to shake with each step. They also add sound effects to each step.

The Daily Dot reached out to Brenden Dilley, a podcast host who runs the team that created the video, to inquire about the post. Dilley responded with a screenshot of the Daily Dot's previous coverage of the meme team alongside the statement: "You're welcome to blow me first."

In another post, Biden is towering over the nation's Capitol building.

A caption on the picture states: "At this rate of growth Biden will soon be unstoppable."

Trump's 18-year-old son Barron, who is a staggering 6'9, also found himself in the mix.

"I await their titanic duel," another said in a manipulated image.

Other posts referred to Biden as "Joeliath" and "Giant Joe," while some argued that his nickname should be changed from Dark Brandon to Tall Brandon.

"To all video editors... Now I crave a thread of Giant Joe memes," one user said.

The conspiracy is bigger than the meme

Although the memes were quite apparent to conservatives, they still dwarfed the conspiracy theory that alleged Biden had really replaced by a much taller body double.

"Joe Biden has never been 6’ 4 tall like the ‘body double’ towering over Jill and White House aides," another added. "And he’s never in his life moved as well as this other ‘body double’ caught on the way to his car."

Prominent Trump supporter Bill Mitchell also hyped the claims, posting in image he claimed of Biden in 2022 and 2024.

While the conspiracy theory remains prominent among mainline supporters of former President Donald Trump, the tall Biden memes appear here to stay.

At least until he leaves office next year.

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X owner Elon Musk is feuding with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over an AI-generated campaign video that alters the speech of Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Friday, Musk promoted a video created by the right-wing YouTuber "Mr Reagan" that uses an AI voice generator to depict Harris calling President Joe Biden senile.

"I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate," the AI audio says. "Thanks, Joe."

The fake Harris goes on in the nearly two-minute-long video, which uses footage from a real Harris campaign ad, to refer to herself as "the ultimate diversity hire" before stating that any criticism of her is "both sexist and racist."

"I may not know the first thing about running the country but remember that's a good thing if you're a deep state puppet," the ad continues. "I had four years under the tutelage of the ultimate deep state puppet, a wonderful mentor, Joe Biden."

Although the text in Mr Reagan's post described the video as a "Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY," the footage itself does not include any such disclaimers. And while many would argue that the audio content is unmistakably manipulated and satirical, critics, such as Newsom, took issue with the clip.

"Manipulating a voice in an 'ad' like this one should be illegal," Newsom wrote. "I'll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is."

The bill Newsom is referring to is known as "The Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act" and would require major online platforms to label certain content as "inauthentic, fake, or false" during election season. Election-related content deemed “materially deceptive" would be outright banned.

In response, Musk, as well as his right-wing supporters, flooded Newsom's replies.

Musk himself made reference to his testicles while criticizing Newsom's remarks.

"I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America," Musk said.

Musk followed up by issuing a poll to his more than 191 million followers asking whether Newsom should create an endowed chair at the University of California for the imaginary professor.

Ironically, as noted by the Verge, Musk's promotion of the altered video without context is actually in violation of X's policies.

Aside from Newsom, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also pushed back on Musk by pointing to legislation aimed at curtailing such content.

"If Elon Musk and X let this go and don’t label it as altered AI content, they will not only be violating X’s own rules, they’ll be unleashing an entire election season of fake AI voice and image-altered content with no limits, regardless of party," Klobuchar said on Threads.

Reacting to the video, the Harris campaign argued in a statement that the "American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice-President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump."

As it stands, Musk has not labeled the video as manipulated. Musk's post highlighting the video has already been viewed nearly 130 million times.

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Prominent left-wing users on social media cited recent photos of former President Donald Trump to prove that an assassination attempt against him didn't happen.

Since the attempted assassination of Trump more than two weeks ago, conspiracy theories have exploded online among liberals.

The photos, taken by press photographers over the past several days, only amplified those conspiratorial claims.

"Donald Trump doesn't want you to see this," X user David Leavitt wrote of one photo from the Associated Press (AP). "Do not share this picture of his ear."

Such posts racked up millions of views on X, prompting further speculation about Trump's ear.

"Trump speaking at Bitcoin Conference 7/27/24," another added. "His ear is miraculously healed in only 14 days after 'being grazed with a bullet.' Everyone should be questioning this."

Although already widely discussed, the issue blew up after Pete Souza, the chief White House photographer for former President Barack Obama, weighed in on the conspiracy theory.

In a post on Saturday, Souza insinuated that a bullet did not strike Trump, and encouraged his followers to "look closely at his ear" in a photo from the AP.

Souza's comments came just one day after the FBI clarified that it believed a bullet hit Trump.

Yet not long after making the post, Souza's account disappeared. The issue led left-wing users to double down by suggesting that X owner Elon Musk deleted Souza's account in order to help Trump.

"Presidential photographer Pete Souza posted this new AP photo of Trump's uninjured ear, so Elon kicked him off Twitter," one user wrote. "In case you're wondering how the free speech is going."

As noted by Mediate, however, Souza instead deleted his account. Still, left-wing Twitter users haven't let go of their belief that a cover-up is underway.

Some left-wing users have pushed back, though, and are calling out many of the conspiracy theories circulating online. Journalist Yashar Ali, among others, called out the claim about Souza.

"Just incredible… Resistance Twitter has gone from calling anyone who said Biden should drop out a fascist supporter and racist to now tweeting #FreePeteSouza which implies that Pete’s account was suspended," Ali wrote. "His account wasn’t suspended, he deactivated his account."

As for Trump's ear, "a detailed analysis of bullet trajectories, footage, photos and audio by the New York Times strongly suggests Mr. Trump was grazed by the first of eight bullets fired by the gunman," a finding that backs up those also given by the FBI.

Others online also argued that the photos did in fact show damage to Trump's ear, noting a divot on the helix.

As is the case with most conspiracy theories, though, it appears unlikely that many of Trump's detractors will let go. While it is certainly likely that Trump has utilized the assassination attempt to his political advantage, it nevertheless took place.

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The Associated Press (AP) deleted an article fact-checking the false claim that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) made love to a couch, a move that has bolstered the belief among some that the allegation is actually true.

Earlier this month, a false claim went viral on X that Vance, who was recently chosen to be Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate, admitted to having sex with a couch in his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.

The claim quickly went viral and produced countless memes on social media. But, as reported by the Daily Dot, the allegation isn't true and no such passage exists in Vance's book.

Yet the AP's now-removed fact-check is leading some to revive not just the claim but the memes as well.

"AP fact-checked what was a joke from left-wing Twitter - but the link for this is dead now and I can no longer find the story on the AP website. What is going on?" asked CNN's Andy Kaczynski.

Others joked that the AP's retraction was even funnier than the meme itself, which many were aware was a joke from the beginning.

"The AP retracting their Fact Check of JD Vance having relations with a glove wedged in the cushions of a couch is ten times funnier than them publishing it in the first place which in turn is ten times funnier than the actual allegation," another said.

The AP eventually came forward to state that it deleted the fact-check due to issues with the article's editorial process.

"The story, which did not go out on the wire to our customers, didn't go through our standard editing process," an AP spokesperson said. "We are looking into how that happened."

But for those in on the joke, the AP's statement only added fuel to the fire.

"The only thing that @AP can definitively say based on their own reporting is that JD Vance didn't write about having fucked a 'couch' or 'sofa' in his memoir," another said. "There is no evidence whatsoever that he's not shagging the settee."

Although the Vance-couch saga has been debunked, it doesn't seem to matter anymore. Couch memes will almost certainly follow Vance until the internet gloms on to something else.

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An alleged leak of internal code from X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, purports to show protections granted to right-wing accounts that would allow them to break the site's rules without consequence.

But while the "leak" sparked instant backlash and outrage, numerous tech experts say the alleged code doesn't appear real.

On Wednesday, a screenshot began circulating on X of what's been dubbed "the Twitter API leak," which alleges to show "Okta configs" for X.

Okta is a third-party site that handles user verification for platforms.

The account sharing the image, a user named "Anti-Fascist Turtle" who has since been suspended, claimed that X had a list of users who did not have to abide by the platform's Terms of Service.

"New Twitter API leak reveals that there's a group of 'protected users' that are allowed to break the Terms of Service without consequence," the user wrote. "Even including a list of whitelisted slurs," the user said. "Also worth mentioning that all of the listed accounts are right-wing in their contents."

What is the Twitter API leak?

So-called protected users in the alleged code include members of the Trump family, such as President Donald Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. Other protected users are listed as Elon Musk, who owns the X platform, as well as far-right influencers Andrew Tate and Libs of TikTok, and even the account for the Russian government.

Protected terms are listed to show highly specific racial slurs, as well as the words "illegal" and "Mexican."

The so-called leak quickly went viral among left-leaning users on X, who argued that the sudden suspension of Anti-Fascist Turtle suggested that the code was real.

"Just in case you missed it, Elon just nuked @TheAntifaTurtle for making a callout on an API leak revealing a list of users with immunity, who are allowed to say any kind of slurs or hate speech without any consequences, all from major right wing influencers," one user said. "Great site guys."

The source of the claim appears to be a user from a chat room run by the malware hosting service vx-underground. In a post to X on Thursday, vx-underground said that the screenshot was shared to social media after being discussed internally, despite concerns that the leak wasn't real.

"We get links, stories, leaks, etc. all the time," vx-underground wrote. "We get tons of blatant lies, misinformation, exaggerated stories, etc. was actually really hurtful when someone leaked this. Broke my heart that someone in our close circle of friends would violate our trust tl;dr. sad boi hours."

Tech experts were also unconvinced. Numerous users—including cybersecurity researcher and hacker maia arson crimew—pushed back on the code's legitimacy.

In a post to X, maia cast suspicion on the leak and argued that "it looks like perfect bait to stir up the pot and later make fun of people for believing it."later

The URL where the code was supposedly discovered does not exist and was never archived. And the list of protected users, maia noted "seems perfectly tailored to 'triggering the left' and would make little no sense to be implemented in a config file."

The post also seems to be fortuitous. Numerous accounts that shared the "leak" claimed they believed Tate had recently been given a special exception to use racial slurs, claiming to see an uptick of them on his page.

And, suddenly, there was the evidence.

While sites like X have features that require manual moderation on high-profile accounts to protect them from mass-reporting campaigns, those features are "only accessible on internal tooling and is a database flag on accounts, not a list," maia added.

And while maia says her analysis, much like the leak, is largely speculation, she "considers the burden of proof for such a massive claim to be on the side making such a clam."

"as of right now i consider the into to be disinformation and given there does not appear to be a verifiable archive of the URL the data is claimed to be from I do not consider the information to be verifiable without comment from twitter," she said.

In response to maia, a former employee of Twitter also said that, at least prior to Musk's takeover, moderation was done through internal tools, not Okta and whitelists as shown in the supposed leak.

Other prominent users, such as popular YouTuber and cybersecurity researcher Ryan McBeth, also expressed doubts that Okta would be used that way.

In a statement to journalist Benedict Garman, Okta also confirmed that the alleged leak was fabricated.

"We can confirm that this is definitely an invalid url and we confirm the screenshot is fake," an Okta spokesperson said.

X has not publicly commented on the alleged leak, but the platform placed "Manipulated media" tags on posts discussing the issue.

The tag has done little to quell the belief among some left-wing users that the code is real, thinking it's a double fake by Musk to hide his secret racism protocols.

But for now, without any further verification, the so-called Twitter API leak does not appear to be legitimate.

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CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company that caused computers across the globe to crash last week, apologized to its partners by offering them $10 Uber Eats gift cards.

In an email shared to X by a recepient, CrowdStrike sends its "heartfelt thanks and apologies for the inconvenience" after a corrupted update it issued on July 19 led millions of Windows machines to become inaccessible.

"lol Crowdstrike crashed millions of computers with a glitch and then sent an apology to partners in the form of a $10 Uber Eats gift card," says one user who obtained the email.

The email contains a QR code allowing partners to redeem the gift card for their "next cup of coffee or late night snack..."

"To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us!" the email reads.

On Friday, CrowdStrike issued an update to its customers that use the Windows operating system that caused what's known as the blue-screen-of-death (BSOD). In total, more than 8.5 million computers became unusable at businesses such as banks, airports, and hospitals.

The gesture in response is being met with mockery given the severity of the outrage, which caused, among other things, tens of thousands of airline passengers to be stranded all over the world.

To make matters worse, numerous reports indicate that some of the gift cards aren't even redeemable. As noted by TechCrunch, many are being met with error messages. Some are being told their gift card "has been canceled by the issuing party and is no longer valid."

Chris Tappin, a digital forensics expert based in Australia, is one such partner of CrowdStrike to report the issue.

"Latest CrowdStrike betrayal just dropped: The Uber Eats voucher in the email to partners stating 'your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us' fails with 'We're sorry, this voucher has been cancelled by the issuing party and is no longer valid' (at least in Aus)," he says.

So far, CrowdStrike has not issued a statement on the gift card issue.

And while the gift card is going to firms that pay for CrowdStrike, the people impacted by flight cancellations and work stoppages aren't getting any kind of reimbursement.

CrowdStrike Founder and CEO George Kurtz issued an apology last week as the company worked to fix the issue.

"I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for the outage," Kurtz wrote. "All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority."

Ultimately, the gift card fiasco may have made things worse for the company as CrowdStrike is already struggling to rebuild its reputation.

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People online are being duped by the claim that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who was recently picked as former President Donald Trump's running mate, previously admitted to having sex with a couch.

Where the JD Vance-couch rumor began

The rumor, which isn't true, first appeared on social media last week but didn't start going viral until recent days. On July 15, a user on X alleged that Vance wrote in his 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," that he once stuck his penis into "an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions."

The original post from the X account, which has since gone private, has been gaining steam. The claim comes from those who seem to think the rumor is genuine.

"In his dreadful novel, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' JD Vance described having sex with a rubber glove secured between cushions on his couch," one user wrote. "Republicans chose him to be one heartbeat away from becoming POTUS. Voters in NC, the U.S. furniture capital, should be particularly horrified."

The Vance couch memes

As the rumor became more prominent, so did the reactions. Countless memes related to Vance and his couch have been rampant online ever since.

Even those who were aware that the claim wasn't true couldn't help but join in on the meme-making. One such user shared a fabricated press release from Vance in which he pushed back on those criticizing his fondness for his couch.

"I reject and rebuke the scurrilous rumors circulating about me on X and other platforms," the fake letter had Vance say. "Never in my life have I had sexual relations with a couch to completion. This is a life. Furthermore, I can assure you I haven't had any bare-skin contact with a couch in over five years."

One video mocking Vance and the false rumor about a relationship with his couch, set to the Barry White song "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up," has already been seen over 866,000 times on X.

Vance made no such admission in his book.

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A supporter of former President Donald Trump stands accused of pretending to be a Black woman on social media to attack Vice President Kamala Harris. He said it's all a misunderstanding.

Pro-Trump influencer Joey Mannarino said to his more than 488,000 followers on X on Tuesday that he was a "TRUE Black American woman" before vowing to never vote for Harris.

"I'm a TRUE Black American woman and I've been Black all my life. I was born Black and I will die Black," Mannarino wrote. "My mommy was Black. My daddy Black. I will NEVER cast a ballot for that Kamala Harris woman as long as I live! Trump all the way, all day everyday!"

Mannarino's text was also shared alongside an image of Black Trump supporter Lavern Spicer that was quickly deleted, but not before countless users captured screenshots and videos of the post.

"I just caught @JoeyMannarinoUS pretending to be a Black Woman voting as a Republican," X user @BaloneyTony305 wrote. "PLEASE SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE. ALL MAGA HAS ARE LIES!!!"

But Mannarino denies the allegations and instead claims that the post was accidentally made on his profile by Spicer, a Black conservative woman running for Congress in Florida’s 24th District.

"A tweet posted earlier from my account was the result of my account being logged in on a friend's device. Clearly, I am not a Black woman," Mannarino said. "Unlike the Democrat nominee for President, I don't spend my time pretending to be a Black woman to garner votes under false pretense. The lesson here is always log yourself out when borrowing or using friend's devices, because even months later you'll stay logged in if you haven't changed passwords. On to the next scandal."

In his comments, Mannarino referenced a refrain from 2020 on the right that Harris isn't Black.

Spicer herself also defended Mannarino's claim in a post of her own.

"I will be holding a Spaces later today with my friend Joey Mannarino [to] clear up some misunderstandings," she said. "I’ll get to doing that as soon as I finish distributing food to over 800 homeless people who line up outside of my food bank every week - multiples times per week - for food distribution. See you later!"

The pair did eventually hold a Spaces event on X to try and dispel the claim that Mannarino was pretending to be Spicer.

This isn't the first time that a right-wing influencer has been accused of pretending to be a Black woman.

In 2020, Dean Browning, a former county commissioner and failed congressional candidate from Pennsylvania, set the internet ablaze after claiming to be a Black man while criticizing former President Barack Obama.

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Google searches asking whether President Joe Biden is dead are surging this week after his decision to bow out of the 2024 presidential race.

The searches, which began seeing a noticeable increase on Monday, coincide with an explosion of conspiracy theories regarding Biden's health.

Prior to revealing that he would no longer be running for a second term on Sunday, an announcement which spurred conspiracy theories as well, Biden admitted to catching COVID-19 on Wednesday of last week.

Is Joe Biden dead?

White House Physician Kevin O'Connor said on Monday that Biden was recovering and still performing his official duties. But a lack of any public appearances in six days allowed rumors to fester.

Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, for example, is claiming that Biden is actually on his deathbed and may only have days to live.

"Biden has been dying, and he is dying rather quickly," Loomer says.

Loomer's unfounded theory stems from her previous claim on July 5 that Biden suffered a "medical emergency" while aboard Air Force One that the White House covered up.

Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk is pushing a similar claim that Biden suffered a catastrophic medical problem on July 17 that resulted in him canceling a speech in Las Vegas. Kirk alleges that the White House used the COVID diagnosis to cover up the unknown medical emergency.

Biden, posters in the Kirk and Loomer orbit claim, may have suffered a stroke-like event, necessitating his withdrawal from the 2024 race, which he long refused to leave.

It's not just prominent conspiracy theorists pushing such claims. Former Republican Representative Madison Cawthorn also suggested on X that Biden is likely dead.

"Anyone else think Biden is dead?" asked Cawthorn.

The rumor led conspiracy theorists to latch onto every possible clue that they think gives credence to their belief.

Another user shared a picture of a flag at half-mast outside of the Capitol, insinuating Biden was secretly dead.

"BREAKING: The fence is going back up at the Capitol and the flag has been lowered," the user wrote. "What is happening??"

I Community Note points out that the flag is at half-mast for the death of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Not only that, the image used in the post is actually from 2021.

Even though Biden made a phone call on Monday to Vice President Kamala Harris, who he has endorsed, conservatives are changing the narrative.

Right-wing commentator Benny Johnson on Tuesday shared a clip of Harris speaking with Biden at her new campaign headquarters. Johnson and his followers think Harris nearly admitted that the call was a "recording," while others believe Biden's voice was produced by artificial intelligence (AI). The claim is unsurprising since many online claimed an interview Biden gave to MSNBC earlier this month was AI.

Aside from the search spikes on Google, social media platforms are seeing indications of the conspiracy theory, too.

Hashtags on X such as #ProofOfLife demand that Biden reveal himself to the public. Another trending topic on X simply asks, "Where's Joe."

While conspiracy theories have been the norm for America in recent years, misinformation has seemingly hit an all-time high following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Biden will reportedly return to the White House today.

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Since the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, misinformation and conspiracy theories have surged to seemingly unprecedented levels online. Now, far-right users online are attempting to claim that the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was transgender.

The claim regarding Crooks, who was shot and killed by counter snipers moments after he opened fire on Trump, looks to have first appeared on the notorious far-right imageboard 4chan.

The anonymous user who made the claim did so alongside a picture of an individual with long hair that bears some resemblance to Crooks. In response, another 4chan user asked if the photo was real. The original poster replied that it wasn’t, but added that “spreading rumors” was fun.

Millions see false photo asserting Trump shooter was transgender

Nevertheless, the photo circulated outside the walls of 4chan and onto popular social media sites. The image received over 20,000 shares and roughly 7.1 million views after being shared to X by the popular far-right user known as “Paul Hookem.”

“Anyone wondering why they aren't using this photo of the shooter?” the user asked.

Countless users in the replies argued that the picture proved that Crooks was clearly left-wing, although the shooter was a registered Republican who classmates say held conservative views. Crooks did, however, once donate $15 to a left-wing political organization.

“Interesting, It doesn’t suit the narrative of a geeky loner rather than being a Democrat Woke pusher of pronouns,” one user responded.

“This dude screams antifa soy boy,” another added.

The narrative plays into previous attempts by right-wing internet users to suggest that the nation is facing an epidemic of mass shootings carried out by transgender individuals.

Although a Community Note was eventually placed on the post, the fact-check seems to have done little to stop the spread of the claim.

At no point has Crooks’ family, friends, or law enforcement investigating the shooting said that the 20-year-old identified as transgender.

Why it matters

After major events, confusion becomes rampant on social media. And in this case, that uncertainty was seized upon by individuals looking to spread misinformation.

As always, internet users should look for confirmation from reputable sources before believing claims that have no backing.

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