Social media was once again busy circulating the wildly unfounded claim that the White House employs a body double for Melania Trump who escorts her husband to Marine One.
The conspiracy theory gained new life on Wednesday after President Trump and the first lady were seen exiting the White House and boarding Marine One, where they were flown to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
From there, the couple deplaned the presidential helicopter and then hopped aboard Air Force One, which took them to West Palm Beach, Florida, where they plan to spend the holidays at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
Photographers camped out on the South Lawn of the White House snapped pictures of the couple as they strolled to the helicopter while holding hands.
President Trump (left) and First Lady Melania Trump are seen above leaving the White House and walking toward Marine One on the South Lawn on Wednesday
The images taken of the first lady (above) revived conspiracy theories online that a body double was used for a photo op
The president and first lady are seen above boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after being flown there from the White House by Marine One
The photographs show the first lady wearing a double-breasted black coat as well as a large pair of sunglasses that conceal her eyes.
Melania’s appearance, however, provided fodder for conspiracy theorists on Twitter to once again claim that this was, in fact, an impostor.
Twitter user Mel Neuhaus posted a screen shot of the Trumps exiting the White House on Wednesday with the caption: ‘Ah, on the run to MagaLago AND the return of #FakeMelania!’
Another Twitter user who identified herself as ‘Mary’ tweeted: ‘That’s definitely not her #fakemelania.’
A Twitter user who goes by ‘Russell The Texan’ posted a response to a video clip of the Trumps boarding Marine One.
‘Trump and #FakeMelania have just boarded Marine One,’ he wrote.
Lynn Zachariades commented on Twitter: ‘Looks like they dragged out #FakeMelania again…’
Another Twitter user who goes by the name ‘suepac’ tweeted: ‘Barron seems to be with his mother, because Trump is being escorted by #fakeMelania.
‘You know she’s a double because real Melania won’t hold his hand,’ one Twitter user commented, a reference to several prior instances in which the first lady was seen rejecting her husband’s attempt to hold her hand in public
Another Twitter user who identified herself as ‘Mary’ tweeted: ‘That’s definitely not her #fakemelania’
Twitter user Mel Neuhaus posted a screen shot of the Trumps exiting the White House on Wednesday with the caption: ‘Ah, on the run to MagaLago AND the return of #FakeMelania!’
A Twitter user who goes by ‘Russell The Texan’ posted a response to a video clip of the Trumps boarding Marine One. ‘Trump and #FakeMelania have just boarded Marine One,’ he wrote
Lynn Zachariades commented on Twitter: ‘Looks like they dragged out #FakeMelania again…’
‘You know she’s a double because real Melania won’t hold his hand.’
On several occasions, the first lady was seen apparently swatting away the president’s hand while the couple walked to and from airplanes.
After the couple landed in Israel in May 2017, the president was seen holding out his hand in hopes that his wife would grab it.
But Melania made a gesture with her hand that appeared to be a rejection of the president’s invitation.
In August, the first lady once again appeared to be avoiding holding hands with the president while descending from Air Force One after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Video of both incidents went viral as social media began to speculate on the state of the Trumps’ marriage.
Back in January, cameras caught the first lady appearing to reject Donald’s attempt to hold her hand as they stood on the field at the College Football Championship in New Orleans.
On August 16, Melania Trump appeared to refuse to hold her husband Donald’s hand as they disembarked from Air Force One in Washington, DC
The following month the couple were seen disembarking from Air Force One when Donald reached out for Melania’s hand, not realizing that she had tucked it inside her coat.
Perhaps the most famous example was in April 2018, in the wake of revelations that Donald had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and had paid her to keep silent.
In that incident, the couple were attending a state ceremony on the White House Lawn when Donald began extending his pinkie finger in an obvious signal that he wanted to hold Melania’s hand.
Melania seemed to ignore his invitation and kept her hand pinned to her side as Donald awkwardly grabbed onto it.
She was then seen shuffling sideways away from her husband, as if to move out of his reach.
This is the second time in the last three months that the #FakeMelania hashtag went viral on Twitter.
In late October, another photo of Melania smiling while boarding Marine One sparked a frenzy of speculation online, where Twitter users zoomed in on her facial features and began making armchair analyses that might prove the body double conspiracy.
Melania is seen in the photo wearing large sunglasses and a broad smile that some Twitter users believe did not match her usual subtle grin.
The theory doesn’t hold up when compared to other photos of Melania taken minutes earlier, which clearly show its her and not an impostor.
Rumors about Melania Trump using a body double were reignited in October by an odd photo that sent Twitter into a frenzy. The photo in question (above) shows Melania and her husband Donald Trump boarding Marine One on Thursday on their way to the final presidential debate
Melania is seen wearing large sunglasses and a broad smile that some Twitter users believe did not match her usual subtle grin
But the theory doesn’t hold up when compared to other photos of Melania taken minutes earlier, which clearly show its her and not an impostor
Twitter users zoomed in on her facial features and began making armchair analyses that might prove the body double conspiracy.
But Twitter users seized on the theory anyway as #FakeMelania began trending.
‘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,’ one man tweeted.
‘I never believed the #FakeMelania conspiracies, but you can tell this 100% isn’t her, because she’s looking fondly at a Christmas tree in the distance.’
‘I was planning on getting a good night’s sleep but now I’m freaked out by fake Melania OMG,’ a woman added.
Another woman posted the photo alongside a different one of Melania, writing: ‘Has anyone checked on the “real” Melania?’
Comedian Patton Oswalt also chimed in, writing: ‘That’s…SO not Melania. They didn’t even try.’
Several of the conspiracy theorists noted that Melania’s teeth looked rounder than they usually do.
Meanwhile there were a few people who joined the conversation to refute the theory, calling it ridiculous.
‘It’s Melania. Why bother with weird conspiracies when we’re already inundated with real corruption and scandals?’ a woman asked.
The unfounded body double theory began in October 2017 when Twitter users zeroed in on footage of Melania standing behind her husband as he spoke to reporters about hurricane relief for Puerto Rico.
During the briefing, Trump pointed out the presence of his wife even though she was standing in clear view of the cameras.
‘My wife, Melania, who happens to be right here,’ he said.
Conspirators based their body double speculation on that comment, saying that he mentioned her presence to cover for the fact that she was actually somewhere else.
The unfounded body double theory began in October 2017 when Twitter users zeroed in on footage of Melania standing behind her husband as he spoke to reporters
They also claimed that Melania didn’t look like herself in the footage, specifically questioning the shape of her nose.
The theory re-emerged in August 2018 when the president and his wife visited Ohio, and Twitter users claimed that Melania’s hair was parted the wrong way and thus it wasn’t her.
President Trump addressed the theory last year after it resurfaced again regarding a photo of him and Melania at a memorial for tornado victims in Alabama.
He claimed that the theory was driven by the media, accusing journalists of doctoring photos of his wife.
‘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.. They are only getting more deranged with time!’