Media

The Internet Is Convinced Trump Voted With Fake Melania

BODY DOUBLE

Social media users took the former first lady’s indoor sunglasses as confirmation of the conspiracy theory.

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 05: Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump escorts his wife Melania Trump at the polling place in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Election Day, on November 05, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida.  Trump will hold an Election Night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Donald Trump showed up to a Florida polling location with a woman social media users are saying is not his wife Melania Trump. And they are pointing to her indoor sunglasses and complete silence as “proof” of the long-held conspiracy.

Medias Touch editor Ron Filipkowski shared the primary clip that’s fueling the online rumors, tweeting, “Melania’s been wearing sunglasses inside all day today.” Immediately, replies started coming in with the reasons the woman next to Trump in the thick black sunglasses might not actually be his wife.

One user points out several details that suggest someone else may be standing in for the former first lady: “Rings missing, wrong nail style & length, no smile lines in the jawline [or] lower cheek, bust is half the size it should be,” and the list goes on and on. Others pointed out that the woman in the video looks “20 years younger” than Melania Trump.

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Another user wrote that the clip shows “when you get your Melania from Temu” while another quipped “I’m glad they brought back Fake Melania for the season finale.”

Aside from this one clip, users think footage shown on major networks CNN and Fox News where Melania stands at Trump’s side, only deepens the theory. She stands by as Trump lashes out at a reporter for asking him whether he’d encourage his supporters not to turn to violence as the votes are counted. “Of course there will be no violence,” he said standing next to his wife in the indoor gym. “These are people that believe in no violence, unlike your question. You believe in violence.”

Rumors that Trump occasionally appears with a Melania double have circulated since 2017, with his latest appearance to vote in Florida only as the most recent example.

In 2019, Trump attempted to shut down the rumors but ended up fueling them instead when he said photos of his wife had been photoshopped to look like a fake Melania—but it turned out the photos were unaltered.