No Body Double: Trump Blasts Fake Melania Theories

Originally published by The Epoch Times: Trump Denounces Fake Melania Theories

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump is less than thrilled with the ongoing #FakeMelania chatter that has taken over social media platforms.

On March 13, he claimed that if there were indeed a body double for his wife, it would be the “fake news” outlets that orchestrated the whole charade.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump asserted that images of Melania had been manipulated to suggest that a look-alike accompanied him during a recent trip to Alabama to assess tornado damage.

“Fox & Friends” highlighted the body-double theory on their Wednesday broadcast, referencing a segment from ABC’s “The View” where hosts debated whether an impostor had joined Trump on his trip.

“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,” Trump tweeted. “They are only getting more deranged with time!”

During the discussion on “The View,” hosts pointed out that the woman seen next to Trump seemed shorter and had a different facial structure than Melania. One host even speculated that the first lady might have opted for flat shoes. In reality, Melania, who stands at 5-foot-11, had swapped her usual stilettos for sneakers to navigate the rugged terrain alongside her 6-foot-3 husband.

A conservative news outlet reported on Trump’s dissatisfaction with media coverage of his wife following an interview on Monday, where he remarked, “If I were a Democrat instead of a Republican, she’d be Jackie O times twenty. Instead, they go after her.” Here, Trump was invoking the legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, often referred to as “Jackie O” after her marriage post-Kennedy’s assassination.

Factors influencing how individuals appear in photos include the angle of the shot, the type of camera lens, and the photographer’s positioning, explained Akili Ramsess, executive director of the National Press Photographers Association. She emphasized that while basic toning and cropping are permissible, any manipulation of news images beyond that is considered unethical. “Photographers or editors can be fired over such manipulation,” Ramsess added.

The “FakeMelania” hashtag has been in circulation since at least 2017, with Twitter yielding a plethora of photos and baseless commentary suggesting that the woman in the images is not Melania Trump.

As the debate on “The View” wound down, contributor Ana Navarro-Cardenas, an outspoken critic of Trump, quipped, “Let’s have fun with Melania. She’s beautiful, and we’re doing this in jest.” Abby Huntsman, a Republican panelist, questioned, “Does that make it better?” to which co-host Joy Behar replied, “We’re not here to be better people. We’re here to have a good laugh.”

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokesperson, criticized the segment, stating that it “went beyond the petty mean-girl spirit that we’ve grown accustomed to.” She pointed out, “People died, people lost family, people are hurting in Alabama,” and noted, “I personally watched the president and first lady hug, listen to, and comfort people who had lost everything—and the ‘ladies’ of The View instead chose to laugh and joke about a body-double conspiracy.”

An ABC representative declined to comment on the matter. The White House has refrained from addressing media inquiries regarding the implications that Trump should identify those responsible for altering the photographs.

By Darlene Superville

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