False tattoo claims revive John Fetterman body double conspiracy theories

"It looks like John Fetterman no longer has tattoos on his forearms," says a September 14, 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "They sure are getting sloppy with these doubles."

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Screenshot from X, formerly known as Twitter, taken September 18, 2023

Similar posts spread across X and other platforms, including Instagram and TikTok. Internet personalities such as Joey Mannarino and Benny Johnson, both of whom AFP has fact-checked for spreading misinformation, amplified the claim.

The posts are the latest to promote a baseless conspiracy theory that Fetterman has a body double.

Such claims surfaced in March 2023 as the Pennsylvania Democrat prepared to return from a weeks-long hospital stint. Similar rumors and hoaxes have circulated about other public figures, including NFL player Damar Hamlin and singer Avril Lavigne.

Fetterman has rejected the allegations -- and there is no evidence he removed the tattoos on his forearms.

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Then-Democratic US Senate candidate John Fetterman waves during a rally ahead of the US midterm elections in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 5, 2022 ( AFP / SAUL LOEB)

The senator said in a September 2022 op-ed (archived here) that the tattoos are "personal" to him and "reminders of the people we have lost and what I am fighting for."

One shows the zip code for Braddock, Pennsylvania, where he served as mayor for more than a decade. The other lists nine dates when people died violently during his tenure.

The posts pointing to Fetterman's supposedly missing tattoos show screengrabs or clips of his reaction to House Republicans' launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Fetterman mocked the move by raising his arms to his head, feigning shock. His forearm tattoos were temporarily hidden from the camera.

But the ink appears in more complete footage of the interaction, which NBC News reporter Liz Brown-Kaiser posted to X and Fetterman shared on TikTok (archived here and here).

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Screenshots from X taken September 18, 2023

Another related post on X falsely claims to show photos of Fetterman sporting two different facial hair styles on the same day.

While one image comes from a video Fetterman posted September 16, the other is a Washington Post photo snapped more than a year earlier on April 3, 2022 (archived here and here).

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Screenshot from X taken September 18, 2023

Fetterman has previously refuted the body double conspiracy theory, mocking the allegations in a skit published on social media (archived here and here).

AFP reached out to Fetterman's Senate office for additional comment, but no response was forthcoming.

AFP has previously debunked similar claims about Hamlin and others, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.