Bizarre rumours that Melania Trump has been replaced with a body double have resurfaced.
Images of the President Donald Trump and the First Lady boarding Marine One at the White House sparked a social media frenzy as eagle-eyed Twitter users claimed the woman was not Mrs Trump.
Rumours about a lookalike standing in for Mrs Trump at public events have circulated on social media for several years.
In 2019, a picture of the couple at a memorial for tornado victims in Alabama drew attention as Twitter users suggested Mrs Trump looked different in the image.
The latest image showed the President with Mrs Trump as they departed from the White House for Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, October 22.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The First Lady was wearing black sunglasses obscuring her face and smiling broadly, prompting speculation the woman was in fact a decoy.
Twitter users pointed to Mrs Trump did not smile in the same way and there were differences in her appearance.
One Twitter user said: “I never believed the #FakeMelania conspiracies, but you can tell this 100% isn’t her, because she’s looking fondly at a Christmas tree in the distance.”
Another tweeted: “Good luck finding any photos of Melania smiling like that.”
Comedian Patton Oswalt posted: “That’s…SO not Melania. They didn’t even try.”
The President even addressed the conspiracy theory last year, but he put the blame on journalists for doctoring images.
He tweeted: “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..
“They are only getting more deranged with time!”
It comes as Mr Trump attended rallies in Ohio, Winconsin and North Carolina on Saturday as the US presidential election entered the final stretch.
The First Lady has been notably absent on the campaign trail compared to her predecessors.
