There are many conspiracy theories swirling about Donald Trump and his family. But the wildest theory of them all is the “fake Melania” conspiracy.
What’s this theory about? It’s all in the name. Some people believe that the real Melania Trump has hired a body double (or maybe even more than one) to appear at many of Donald Trump’s events. And they love to swap stories and images via the #FakeMelania hashtag.
Is there any truth to this strange conspiracy, or is this just a bunch of “fake news?” We’ve got the full breakdown of this first lady mystery.
Origin of conspiracy
This conspiracy theory kicked into full gear in October 2020. But it actually all started back in 2017.
Joe Vargas, the owner of Buy Legal Meds, posted screenshots from a video showing Donald Trump and “Melania.” They were talking to reporters from inside a Secret Service training area.
In a now-deleted tweet, he wrote (via Vox), “This is not Melania. To think they would go this far & try & make us think its her on TV is mind blowing. Makes me wonder what else is a lie.”
In a later tweet, he was conclusive: “Let me save you some time from looking it up. It’s not her.” You can watch the video and decide for yourself, but much of the internet decided Vargas was right, and a new conspiracy theory was born.
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Body double or double agent?
If there is a “fake Melania,” then what’s her story? According to a former Secret Service agent, there may be a pretty simple explanation.
Former agent Jonathan Wackrow thinks this might just be another agent. He said (via CNN), “Mrs. Trump’s lead agent is a woman… and she happens to look a little like her, but physically, she is much shorter.” And if it needed clarification, he threw this in. “The United States Secret Service doesn’t use body doubles.”
The rumor might have died back then. However, secret surgery for the real Melania helped bring it back to life.
Surgery and fresh rumors
Conspiracy theories are often retroactive. They provide alternative explanations for otherwise mundane things that have already happened.
In 2018, Melania Trump received surgery for what the White House called “a benign kidney condition.” This would normally require a single night in a hospital. But nobody saw Melania for 15 days, even at special White House events.
Rumors swirled about where she could be, and Donald Trump made things worse. When a reporter asked where Melania was, Trump said (via The Washington Post), “She’s doing great. She’s looking at us right there.” He then pointed to a White House window, but nobody was there.
With Melania being gone from the public eye for a relatively long time, the rumors about her alleged body double returned.
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The rumor returns
In March 2019, the rumor came back in a big way after Donald Trump and Melania visited Lee County in Alabama after severe tornadoes killed 23 people. Twitter users viewing images and videos of that day believed that this was a Melania impersonator. And they created the #FakeMelania hashtag to discuss their theories.
Once again, Donald Trump managed to make things worse. He legitimized the conspiracy by talking about it on Twitter. He wrote, “the Fake News photoshopped pictures of Melania, then propelled conspiracy theories that it’s actually not her by my side in Alabama and other places.”
There was no evidence of photo manipulation, though. And Donald Trump telling his millions of followers about the conspiracy meant that the whole crazy theory was about to go mainstream.
The conspiracy goes mainstream
In the wake of those photos and Donald Trump’s response, the hosts of The View discussed the Lee County photos. And their discussion on the matter helped even more of the world learn about this theory.
After quipping about multiple Melanias putting up with Trump, Joy Behar was surprised by the photographic evidence. ”I wasn’t going to go along with this, but that one in that picture doesn’t look like her,” she said.
Their discussion pointed out other inconsistencies, including that the “fake Melania” was shorter than the real thing. And host Ana Navarro pointed out the obvious. “Political reality right now is so absurd, you would almost believe anything.” Which is a polite way of saying the Trump administration has been weird enough that you can’t rule out a professional impersonator.
Ultimately, the hosts didn’t take this too seriously. But Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham did, writing to USA Today. She claimed, “Yesterday’s show went beyond the petty, mean-girl spirit that we’ve grown accustomed to.”
Between the discussion and the official response, the rumor stayed alive.
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Smile-gate
We don’t see too many photos where Melania sports a big smile. And then the internet saw a photo of “Melania” smiling alongside Donald Trump as they flew to Nashville for a debate. Soon, the #FakeMelania conspiracy theorists chimed in.
Some Twitter users put together side-by-side photo comparisons so that people could decide for themselves. One such person tweeted out, “Swipe these two photos back & forth. Notice the two front teeth. Melania’s are more squared…THAT AIN’T HER in the other photo. #FakeMelania.”
TV director Zack Bornstein offered his humorous two cents. He tweeted, “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.”
All of this was very funny. But things got serious when a former Trump Administration official seemingly confirmed the conspiracy!
‘The Mooch’ weighs in
Anthony Scaramucci had a legendarily short run as White House Director of Communications for 10 days in July 2017. But he still picked up a lot of info about the administration. And he’s not afraid to gossip about what he saw and heard.
This happened when he appeared on a 2020 episode of the Australian game show Have You Been Paying Attention? and the conspiracy came up. When asked if there was any truth to the theory, “The Mooch” said this (via Yahoo! Finance): “You know Michael Cohen, the President’s lawyer, insists that there is a body double and insists that actually her sister sometimes replaces her on the campaign trail.”
It’s debatable how trustworthy Scaramucci is. And his statement makes this alleged bombshell third-hand info.
But the fact that former Trump Administration officials will talk about or even joke about this conspiracy theory means it may never die!
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