The conspiracy of the false Melanias
A photo of the first lady of the USA in Alabama triggers the rumors about the use of doubles
From the days of Samuel Adams and the Boston Tea Riot to today, conspiracy theories are a part of everyday life in America. And in the times of information manipulation and fake news - as Donald Trump calls not fake news but unfavorable news - the last one to catch on has been the one that ensures that the first American lady uses doubles in some official appearances.
A photograph taken during an event in Alabama on Friday has again triggered the conspiracy theory of fake Melania. The gait of the first lady when descending the ladder of Air Force One drew the attention of the networks. His suspicions about the "false Melania", protected by large black sunglasses, were reaffirmed by the photo of the couple, holding hands, in front of the grave of one of the 23 fatalities of the tornado that a few days ago devastated the southern state.
The intrigue stems from the great resemblance of a security agent from the presidential entourage to Melania Trump
“Guys, this is not Melania”, “she is the worst replacement actress I have ever seen”, affirm tweets that are broadcast thousands of times by users who agree that her chin and her cheeks look too different than usual. That there are other images and videos of the same moment and the same day in which the first lady is clearly distinguished does not discourage them. Nor that the explanation that the difference in height (in the photo, he is taller than her) is due to the fact that for once he is not wearing heels but flat shoes, stylish sneakers. In fact, for many netizens, that she wore sneakers is irrefutable proof that she cannot be Melania Trump.
The rumor about the use of doubles of the first lady emerged in the fall of 2017, when someone tweeted a video of Melania Trump and the president on television recorded with their mobile phone, declaring that the woman with sunglasses was not the first lady. “It is amazing that they have come so far and thought we were going to believe that it is she who is seen on TV. I wonder what else they are lying to us about ”, dropped in that message, 60,000 times retweeted, Joe Vargas, noted as the original author of the theory, who rose to digital fame and attracted thousands of people to his website selling products made with cannabis. That in that appearance Trump spoke of his wife saying that she "is here right now", when she was seen next to her, he did not help to dismiss the idea. Nor that on more than one occasion her ex-model has been seen withdrawing her hand from her when the president tried to hold it affectionately.
“Once again, we get sucked into a ridiculous non-story when we could be talking about her work for children, including the opioid crisis ravaging our country,” complained the first lady's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, on CNN. in 2017. But as with any conspiracy theory –which in the case of the US is fundamentally based on the instinctive rejection of many people towards the government or power in general– there is no official denial that can neutralize it.
Many think that Melania Trump actually hates her husband, which would give the theory "credibility"
The element that has given new wings to the conspiracy theory - and many jokes - has been the recent appearance of a security agent in the presidential entourage who bears a great resemblance to the first lady: the same color and haircut, a face angular ... The bodyguard is a few centimeters shorter than the first lady, so ... it could well be the woman next to the president in the Alabama photo!, it is read in many messages on social networks, where the Diffusion of any information, true or not, reaches meteoric speeds.
Even assuming it was true that the White House uses Melania Trump doubles, it doesn't seem to make much sense for them to use two women for the same public act, as would be the case in Alabama. But none of this discourages believers from the theory. Many take it as a joke (look up #fakeMelania), but others seem to not and, in any case, enjoy it by giving it ball. Almost after each appearance of the first lady, messages appear on the networks that it is not really her. Also when several days do not pass without public events, it is interpreted as a sign that there is a cat locked up.
In the case of the "false Melanias" what in the eyes of many people has given "credibility" to the theory is the conviction that in reality she does not share the ideas or the agenda of the president, who hates that he made her go through the humiliation of having paid two women for not spreading their supposed sexual affairs and that, in short, he hates their presence. That is why, they tell themselves, sometimes they have to use doubles for official acts.
In her latest interviews, however, the first lady has been more aligned than ever with the president's political agenda and one hundred percent agree with her refusal to accept that criticism is an inseparable part of her work. she. He also shares his anger towards the media, although in the case of the fake Melania theory, what has fueled it are rather the same social networks that propelled Trump to the White House, the greatest disseminator of the theory of the conspiracy over Barack Obama's birth certificate.
