On Wednesday, Donald Trump accused the media on Twitter of photoshopping his wife Melania in order to further the conspiracy that the first lady is occasionally replaced with a body double for public events. Trump provided no evidence for his claims, but accused the “fake news” of becoming “more deranged.”
“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!” he wrote.
The tweet comes after days of memes have exploded across social media with the hashtag “#fakemelania” suggesting that the former model sometimes has a stand-in appear in her place. Most recently, people suggested that it was a body double who appeared with the president in Alabama this week.
The hosts of The View got in on the fun on Monday, joking whether or not the social media rumors were true. Co-host Joy Behar examined a photo and declared that it looked like a different person, according to the Sun-Sentinel .
“That one does not look like her. Sorry,” Behar said. “I wasn’t going to go along with this but that one in that picture doesn’t look like her. It’s a different shaped face.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin also weighed in, saying that the Melania in Alabama appeared to be shorter than the one who usually accompanies the president.
It appears that Don the con traded in the old model for a new one. #FakeMelania pic.twitter.com/rvkPCl7v7W
— Nancy Lee Grahn (@NancyLeeGrahn) March 10, 2019
Co-host Abby Huntsman said that she thought it would be too much work to have a body double, so she wasn’t buying the theory.
Behar said that, of course, they were aware that the conspiracy wasn’t true, but that there was an element of truth to the humor, which is why she believes it has caught on as it has. She said that it does appear at times that the 48-year-old doesn’t seem overly enthusiastic about appearing at events with her husband.
The first lady wasn’t amused by the theorizing. According to Fox News , her representative slammed the ladies on Twitter for their segment.
“.@flotus & @potus traveled to Alabama to pay their respects & comfort victims of the tornado devastation. In typical fashion, @theview chooses to laugh in the face of tragedy. Shameful,” White House director of communications for the first lady, Stephanie Grisham, wrote.
In an email to USA Today , Grisham called the segment petty and mean and accused the women of attacking the first lady, whose “only goal is to help children.”
She also accused The View of lacking levity for an event that was meant to bring attention to those who had suffered in the recent Alabama tornado.
