Melania Trump is never away from weird rumors and internet theories. When you marry a U.S. president, you don’t just move into the White House, you inherit a bizarre corner of the internet that refuses to let go of conspiracy theories.
Nancy Reagan faced scandalous sex rumors. Hillary Clinton was accused of everything from corruption to murder. Michelle Obama? Internet trolls went after her gender. And for Melania Trump, it’s been the relentless “Fake Melania” theory, a strange but persistent rumor that, in some corners of the internet, just won’t go away.
It’s bizarre that they trot out #FakeMelania, thinking no one will notice. This one’s shorter + looks nothing like her!
Melania Trump is the same height as Michelle Obama: 5’11”
Barack Obama is 6’1”; Trump *says* he’s 6’3”, but looks to be as tall as Obama
Where’s the REAL one? pic.twitter.com/3DqtT02O65
— #PassTheERA, dammit! (@TheMominatrixx) March 9, 2019
The theory has been around for years, with online detectives analyzing everything from awkward hand-holding to Melania’s sometimes robotic smile. But in 2019, the conversation exploded. What triggered the frenzy? Her height.
During a few public appearances, Melania seemed visibly shorter than usual. Her posture also looked slightly hunched, and her fashion choices seemed less polished than what many expect from the former model.
Internet sleuths immediately pounced. On X (formerly Twitter), a post went viral that compared two side-by-side images of Melania, one from the Alabama visit and another from a different event, claiming the woman by Trump’s side simply wasn’t her.
“It’s bizarre that they trot out #FakeMelania, thinking no one will notice. This one’s shorter + looks nothing like her! […] Where’s the REAL one?” the user wrote, prompting thousands of likes and retweets.
Adding fuel to the fire was the couple’s famously frosty body language. Many found their interactions awkward or overly formal, and it didn’t help when Queen Elizabeth reportedly questioned the authenticity of their relationship during a visit.
Still, even with all the buzz, the “Fake Melania” theory had one obvious flaw. The shoes. A closer look at those photos showed that Melania simply wasn’t wearing heels, a rare style choice for her, but one that easily explained the height difference.
And in truth, she wasn’t the only one looking a bit out of sorts. Donald Trump, too, appeared disheveled, tired, and jet-lagged. The theory, at least on that occasion, didn’t hold up.
But Trump’s reaction to the rumors is what reignited the debate.
Fact. Melania had a body double. No First Lady in history had a body double except Trump’s wife. pic.twitter.com/n2LZwbxa5D
— Leasha Knight 🇺🇲🦅 (@LeashaKnight) October 23, 2022
Instead of brushing them off or simply acknowledging that Melania wasn’t wearing heels that day, he accused the media of doctoring the images. “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,” he posted on X.
Of course, this didn’t go over well. Multiple media outlets had captured the same unedited images, and Trump’s defensive outburst only poured gasoline on the fire.
As one user put, “I’m not a #FakeMelania proponent, but no one photoshopped her. The fact that you’re tweeting about it does make me consider that the stand in idea might actually be true.”
Whether or not the theory has any real basis, likely, Melania will never truly escape it.
And considering Donald Trump’s history of pushing the Obama birth certificate conspiracy, some onlookers argue the rumors are a case of karma coming full circle.
