President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania paid U.S. troops in Iraq and Germany a surprise Christmas visit, as BBC News and many other outlets reported earlier this week. But Twitter users have demonstrated doubts that the person photographed next to the president was actually the first lady.
Initially, footage of Melania Trump getting off a plane at the end of the trip alongside the president made headlines because of the color of her pants, as Yahoo! Lifestyle reported. Trump was wearing tight tan colored leather pants that made it seem like her legs were bare. Many social media users believed the first lady had opted for a very short mini skirt, which was invisible under her peacoat. Upon further inspection, the viewer could see wrinkles on her shin area, indicating she was actually wearing tight leather pants.
However, many Twitter users went further, questioning whether the person in the footage was even Melania Trump at all. Some users pointed out that the first lady is wearing oversized sunglasses even though it is nighttime, while others pointed out that her hair seems off, according to the Yahoo! Lifestyle report.
“Melania just looks odd. Are we certain that’s her? Bad judgment fits. With sunglasses and without pants…” one Twitter user wrote.
President Trump returns to White House after surprise Iraq trip https://t.co/JMsHF1iiEM
— TIME (@TIME) December 27, 2018
Another one joked that the first lady had opted to skip the trip altogether and go to a beach in the south of France.
“It’s Melanie with the sunglasses, Melania is on a beach in the south of France till the 2nd,” the user wrote , while another one added , “That’s not Melania. That’s a double. Hair is different, sunglasses all of it.”
Many other social media users came to the first lady’s defense, stating that she might have chosen to wear sunglasses at night to protect her eyes from the flashing cameras. As Yahoo! noted, this is very plausible considering Melania Trump has been photographed wearing shades at night before.
This isn’t the first time social media users accuse Melania Trump of using a body double. In October 2017, The Guardian columnist Marina Hyde jokingly wrote on her Twitter that she believed the first lady was being played by an impersonator following an NBC broadcast of a news briefing by President Trump outside of the White House in which Melania stood next to him, as Yahoo! Lifestyle pointed out at the time.
“Absolutely convinced Melania is being played by a Melania impersonator these days. Theory: she left him weeks ago,” Hyde wrote.
Despite Hyde’s playful tone, many Twitter users shared they actually believed the first lady sometimes used a body double in public appearances.
