All eyes are on Melania Trump once again as her husband is set for a bombshell return to the White House.
When she became the 45th First Lady, the 54-year-old Slovenian-American former fashion model was widely talked about and was the subject of several conspiracy theories. For years, she has been by Donald Trump's side at rallies, high-profile state visits and dinners, but in recent times, she has been absent from the public eye for long periods.
In the run-up to the US Election 2024, the mother-of-one notably missed out on her husband's campaigning events, including his Republican leader victory party on Super Tuesday. And when she has appeared on occasion, Melania can often be spotted wearing large sunglasses, sparking theories she has in fact a body double, or outlandish claims that she has been replaced by a robot.
She broke her cover earlier on Tuesday to cast her vote alongside Mr Trump at the Palm Beach polling station, and once again was hiding behind shades. As people online were quick to question her arrival, the Mirror takes a look at some of the wild conspiracy theories circulating about the First Lady...
'Body double' at Trump events
Image:
AP)This theory first emerged after Melania appeared alongside her husband on the South Lawn of the White House while he was still president. She was wearing large sunglasses, which covered up a lot of her face, and didn't talk throughout as Donald spoke to reporters.
Social media denizens quickly leapt to the conclusion that the woman next to Trump wasn't actually Melania, instead dubbing her "Fake Melania". One user wrote: "This is not Melania. To think they would go this far and try and make us think it's her on TV is mind blowing.
"Makes me wonder what else is a lie." The user on X, formerly Twitter, then added that then-president Trump referred to her as "my wife Melania, she's right here" as if he as "try[ing] to convince the media it was her". Donald has accused "deranged" media outlets of digitally editing photos of Melania to fan the flames of conspiracy theories that the First Lady employs a body double.
Melania's then-communications director Stephanie Grisham also shot down the theory. "Once again, we find ourselves consumed with a ridiculous non-story when we could be talking about the work the first lady is doing on behalf of children," she told CNN at the time.
However speculation has reared its head again as she broke cover and stepped out to vote alongside her husband in the US Election 2024. Melania's odd choice of outfit for such a big day sparked a debate online, with many accusing her of "looking like she is attending a funeral for her husband's political career".
Not only that, many were convinced yet again that it was not the real Melania out and about in Florida on Tuesday. "Melania's been wearing sunglasses inside all day today," one Twitter (X) user wrote as they shared a video of Melania and Trump entering the polling station. "The check didn't clear in time for the real Melania to make an appearance, so they had to bring the doppelganger off the bench," one of the replies to the video reads.
"I mean that's not Melania. No cap no conspiracy, it's just not f***ing Melania, lol," another confidently stated as another declared: "Ya'll, that's NOT Melania!!!"
Yet another reply speculating if Melania is the real deal penned: "That's the double, not Melania , easy to see when she smiles and that's what the glasses are for." But the theories were quickly shut down thanks to Melania whipping her huge shades off eventually and letting photographers grab a picture of her full face.
'Russian spy' theory
There's another outlandish theory that Melania is really a Russian spy. The apparent evidence, that theorists were leaping at, was that she had a chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner for the 2017 G-20 Summit. Melania was born in Slovenia which was then part of communist Yugoslavia.
While she doesn't speak Russian she does speak English, French, German, Italian, and Serbian, in addition to her native Slovenian. She was born and raised in Slovenia before she moved to New York in 1996 when she was 26.
The theories are fanned by her husband's actions which appear sympathetic to Russian interests. However, there is no proof that Melania and Putin have regular interactions or that she has ever performed any type of spy work.
'Replaced by robot'
Following the wild speculation about a possible body double, other social media users went as far as suggesting she was replaced by a robot. One X user wrote: "Melania Trump was replaced by a very lifelike robot 14 years ago the only giveaway from this remarkable machine is the cold, dead eyes."
And another suggested the First Lady had "died on election night 2016 and was replaced by a Russian robot." Needless to say, there's also no concrete proof Melania has been replaced by a robot either.
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