Supporters of Elizabeth Warren saw double on Monday evening when the presidential hopeful came face-to-face with her doppelganger during a...
Supporters of Elizabeth Warren saw double on Monday evening when the presidential hopeful came face-to-face with her doppelganger during a rally in Minnesota.
Stephanie Oyen, of Edin, caused quite the stir when she turned up in at Macalester College in St. Paul on Monday dressed as the Massachusetts senator, clad in a blue blazer and clear-rimmed spectacles.
Oyen said she's worn the costume for the past two Halloweens, and, as the look has been well received both times, she thought she’d head to the rally dressed as Warren in search of some ‘giggles’.
But what started as a joke soon turned into a frenzy-filled evening for the 50-year-old affordable housing and community worker.
‘People started yelling, “Senator Warren!”’ Oyen told the StarTribune. ‘People were clapping and running up to me to take photos. I kept saying “I’m not her!” but I looked up and hundreds of people were staring at me.’
Supporters of Elizabeth Warren (right) saw double on Monday evening when the presidential hopeful came face-to-face with her doppelganger, Stephanie Oyen (left) during a rally in Minnesota
From there, Oyen, whose short blond hair is almost identical to Warren’s parted and cropped cut, says things ‘got weird – fast!’
Despite her protests that she was merely an impersonator, Oyen said the fanfare was further fueled in her interactions with the gathering crowd because she also shares a number of distinct mannerisms with Warren.
‘I talk with my hands and shake my head, which only made me look more like Elizabeth Warren,’ Oyen mused. ‘I was saying “I’m not her!” but I could have been saying “Medicare for all!”’
Dozens of people in the crowd approached Oyen, asking her for photographs.
Because of the crazed reaction, Oyen says she eventually ditched the outfit and ‘hid behind a tall guy’, because she felt remorseful for confusing people.
According to Oyen, even members of Warren’s campaign and security team had to double take when they walked past her.
‘I’m not a prankster,’ she told the paper. ‘I really thought people would know, but then they started running up and saying “You’re my hero!” and taking photos. I felt so bad.’
She later added to the Boston Globe: ‘I had taken my jacket and glasses off in an attempt to show people that I wasn’t her... I was trying to disappear. I couldn’t believe it was happening,’ she said.
‘Once she got up here, everyone knew I wasn’t her, and things calmed down.’
However, Oyen decided to don the costume once more when she lined up along with hundreds of others to take a selfie with Warren, a typical feature of her town hall assemblies.
She said at first Warren seemed confused by the familiar looking figure standing in front of her.
‘I couldn’t tell if she recognized I was dressed like her or if she thought, “Here’s a weird lady dressed like a stereotypical politician,”’ Oyen recalled.
But the penny finally dropped when Warren took a second glance, pointed at her outfit and exclaimed ‘We need to talk!’
Oyen posed for a photo shaking hands with Warren, before being called back to the stage moments later by her campaign team who wanted a photo of their own, documenting their uncanny resemblance.
On the second meeting, Oyen said she expressed her admiration to the Democrat, saying the meeting had solidified her endorsement of Warren as a presidential candidate.
Warren drew a large crowd at the event, her first stop so far in Minnesota.
Local reports claimed thousands attended, and Warren’s staff estimated 12,000 flocked to see her speak on the college’s football field.
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