A newly surfaced photo that shows Donald Trump, 74, and a very happy looking Melania Trump, 50, getting off of the Marine One helicopter to board Air Force One last week is bringing back theories that a body double for the First Lady is sometimes being used. In the pic, which was taken as the husband and wife were making their way to Nashville, TN for the final presidential debate, Donald is wearing a suit and waving to onlookers as Melania stands behind him in a sleeveless black dress and sunglasses and also waves while flashing a big rare smile. Since the beauty has often made headlines for looking miserable whenever she’s around the president, it didn’t take long for Twitter users to suspect the recent smiling snapshot was of a “fake Melania”.
“I like a president who doesn’t have to hire a First Lady stand-in,” one Twitter user wrote along with “#FakeMelania.” Actress Meredith Salenger also wrote about her thoughts on the photo. “Holy sh*t this is an obvious one. Do we just let that sh*t slide?” she asked in response to a tweet from writer/director Zack Bornstein that read, “The only thing I’ll miss from this administration is them swapping in new Melanias and just pretending we won’t notice like a 4-year-old with a guppy.”
“Folks, there is a body double running around for Melania. Know how I know? She’s smiling,” another Twitter user cheekily tweeted, while another compared Melania’s teeth in the helicopter photo to in a previous photo. “Notice the two front teeth. Melania’s are more squared…THAT AIN’T HER in the other photo. #FakeMelania,” the tweet read.
Another tweet went into even more details about her appearance while trying to prove that the helicopter pic isn’t the real Melania. “Not just the teeth… If you look at the eyebrows, the hairs are splayed at the start (closest to nasal bridge) – whereas Melania’s are not. Also on the upper lip, there is no prominent commissure – whereas Melania does,” the tweet pointed out.
The latest conspiracy theory about Melania comes after there’s been numerous other times pictures prompted similar reactions in online skeptics over the past few years. From a 2018 trip to Ohio with Donald, to a 2019 trip to Florida, each time, users claimed something was “off” about the First Lady, including looking shorter and/or having darker hair. Like with the helicopter pic, her mood also comes into play since she’s often spotted looking serious around Donald and/or pulling her hand away from his, which she did most recently at the final presidential debate on Oct. 22.
Whether they think it’s because she just doesn’t want to be around Donald or she just wants to be excused from her White House duties, these critics always seem to have a reason to think that a decoy for Melania is right in front of their eyes. While we don’t know for sure, it’s certainly an interesting concept!