People Really Thought Chuck Norris Was at the Capitol Riots

Published Jan. 12 2021, 2:52 p.m. ET

Whenever notable public figures come up in the news, folks are always scurrying to find out their political affiliations. Sometimes they're prompted by controversial stories. Recently, people believed they spotted a famous person at the violent pro-Trump protests at the Capitol — Chuck Norris.

Was Chuck Norris really at the Capitol riots?

In short, no. Many Trump devotees who attended the Capitol riots snapped photos with a man who bears a strong resemblance to the martial arts star. But it's not actually him.

Folks uploaded pictures of themselves with the man, who was identified as Matthew Bledsoe. It appears that pictures with him were taken some moments before the riots on the Capitol building took place, and many of these snaps were uploaded to folks' Instagram stories, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages with "Chuck Norris" mentioned somewhere in the caption.

Soon word spread on social media that Norris was indeed at the protests in support of the 45th President of the United States.

But there were several individuals who doubted it was Norris in the pictures. Although the two men do bear a resemblance, a quick look at the Walker, Texas Ranger star would succinctly put those rumors to bed.

If you take a look at side-by-side photos of Bledsoe and a photograph of Norris, then the differences between the two men become readily apparent.

Or...maybe not. I mean yes, this guy could definitely moonlight as a Chuck Norris impersonator if he wanted to. So it's kind of understandable why so many people at the rally would think the jeans-wearing karate practitioner was marching alongside them. 

However, more recent pictures of Chuck Norris highlight stark differences between the men.

Norris officially retired from acting in 2018 and hasn't made as many public appearances since then. But that hasn't stopped people from trying to get to the bottom of the MAGA rally accusations.

A rep for Chuck Norris, Erik Kritzer, told People that the actor was not at the protests at the Capitol building. "This is not Chuck Norris and is a wannabe lookalike, although Chuck is much more handsome," he said. "Chuck remains on his range in Texas where he has been with his family."

However, is Chuck Norris a Trump supporter? People have found comments from the actor that seem to suggest he at least supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election bid.

NJ.com highlighted Norris' endorsement of Trump in 2016. Although Norris admitted he hadn't seen Trump personally for 42 years, he had positive things to say about him as a person: "I haven't seen or spoken to him since. However, I will tell you, I liked him. He was very friendly and sincere."

He also penned an op-ed titled, "The People Have Spoken" for WND.com, in which he wrote, "I truly believe that the people who have a negative view of Trump will be pleasantly surprised when he becomes the leader of our country. I also believe he will make positive changes that will benefit the people who need it most."

While we don't know if Norris still supports Trump, it wasn't him at the riots. 

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