The tale of two Danielle Smiths

An American former TV anchor and mother of two, Danielle Smith is being mistaken for the new Alberta Premier on Twitter. Henna Saeed takes a look at her social media presence and digs out how the previous premier Jason Kenney also had a name doppelganger in Virginia.

By Rachneet Randhawa and Henna Saeed

Posted Oct 8, 2022 10:51 am.

Last Updated Oct 8, 2022 1:25 pm.

Were you named after a legend, or is there a famous person who shares your name?

The tale of two Danielle Smiths. One is Alberta’s new premier and we find out whose the other one is.

Alberta’s new premier, Danielle Smith shares her name with an American anchor, who is facing the premier’s share of political backlash on her social media accounts.

An American former tv anchor and mother of two, Danielle Smith, is being mistaken for the new Alberta premier on Twitter.

CityNews takes a look at her social media presence and digs out how the previous premier Jason Kenney also had a name doppelganger in Virginia.

Good morning twitter. Good news, I’m still me. I am NOT that other Danielle Smith who is now the Premier elect of Alberta. ♥️ happy to tweet with you, but I don’t do hate, and it appears she and I don’t have a lot in common. ????

— Danielle Smith (@DanielleSmithTV) October 7, 2022

“You know Danielle Smith, not the premier of Alberta, changing their profile. Maybe will have to do that if it gets bad enough,” said Mario Byte, journalist and media training specialist.

Based in St. Louis, USA, this other Danielle Smith says on her Twitter profile that she is a former tv anchor, not Alberta premier.

Just one day into this confusion and she was forced to edit her bio, thanks to the users’ social media habits.

“You just have a thought in your head and you want to express it, boom look it up. Oh, there’s Daniel Smith not even taking the time to look. As you know, that’s real Daniel Smith when you send off whatever the note is. Right, and people don’t spend the time to stop and think and so things are very reactionary like that,” said Byte.

The American Danielle Smith has been on Twitter since 2008 but her account is now blowing up now that Alberta’s UCP leader Danielle Smith is premier and coming under fire for her cancer comments.

“I am not a fortune teller, and good for her for being proactive. I regret we’re in such chaos not only in our country but in North America and the world. So many people pointing fingers and using blaming language” said Patricia Morgan, media resilience speaker and author.

Two people having the same name on social media is not uncommon but dimensions change when one of them is a politician and the other person is a common man.

The same is the case for the former Alberta premier, Jason Kenney, and a Virginia man who have the same name.

He was confused to be the premier so many times that actual shirts were printed with his picture and name to clarify his identity.