People Think Donald Trump Came With a ‘Fake Melania’ to Vote: “Who Wears Sunglasses...”

On Election Day, Melania Trump’s fashion choice—a pair of oversized black sunglasses she wore both outdoors and inside the polling station—fueled a new wave of conspiracy theories. As the former First Lady accompanied Donald Trump to vote in Palm Beach, Florida, her eyewear choice sparked suspicion among theorists who speculated that a body double might have replaced her. The claim is hardly new: since 2017, rumours have swirled online about Melania possibly using a stand-in for public appearances, but her persistent choice to keep the dark shades on indoors reignited these theories with vigour, as reported by Nicki Swift.

Social media users, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), quickly echoed their suspicions. One person wrote, "That person standing next to Trump indoors with huge sunglasses does NOT look like Melania," while another one tweeted, "Looks like Fake Melania with Trump at the Voting booth! Is it me???" In agreement, one netizen added, "I'm not into conspiracy theories, but I thought the same & agree that doesn't look like her & she's been AWOL for how long now? Also who wears sunglasses indoors?" Another remarked, “Could be the fake Melania, the face doesn't look right."

The roots of this conspiracy trace back to 2017 when pictures of Melania at various events led some netizens to insist that ‘the real Melania’ had been swapped with a lookalike. The White House repeatedly dismissed the rumours as ‘ridiculous non-story,’ calling them distractions from Melania’s work on issues like the opioid epidemic. Yet the claims resurfaced, especially in October 2017 and then again in 2020, when a viral image from a helicopter exit showed a woman theorists insisted was an imposter.

Even public figures, including director Zack Bornstein and comedian Patton Oswalt, weighed in, joking about the Melania doubles on social media. Bornstein wrote,  "The only thing I'll miss from this administration is them swapping in new Melanias and just pretending we won't notice like a 4-year-old with a guppy." Whereas, Oswalt remarked, "That's...SO not Melania. They didn't even try." But the body double speculation is just one in a series of conspiracy theories surrounding Melania. As per Mirror, another theory imagines her as a ‘Russian spy,’ pointing to her Slovenian heritage (Slovenia was once part of communist Yugoslavia) and her interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2017 G-20 summit. 

There’s no evidence to support the claim, yet some theorists continue to spin stories about her alleged sympathies with Russia. Perhaps the most outlandish conspiracy is that Melania has been replaced by a lifelike robot.