Does Melania Trump use body double? President Trump blasts media, calls it ‘deranged’

Washington, March 15: A conspiracy theory is often floated in the US about its First Lady Melania Trump using a body double and following a resurgence of interest about it online recently, US President Donald Trump lashed out at it, blaming the "deranged" media.

Trump tweeted over the matter on Wednesday, March 13, saying: "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 [the media] are only getting more deranged with time!".

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019

The matter came up for discussion on "Fox and Friends", one of the president's favourite morning programmes, according to Associated Press, and the president then vented his anger on Twitter.

As per Vox, the conspiracy theory about Melania, known as #FakeMelania, started in 2017. Then, a Twitter user posted a picture of Melania besides Trump speaking the media and claimed: "This is not Melania. To think they would go this far & try & make us think its her on TV is mind blowing."

Melania's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham refuted the theory calling it a "ridiculous non-story".

Talking to CNN in 2017, she said: "Once again, we find ourselves consumed with a ridiculous non-story when we could be talking about the work the first lady is doing on behalf of children, including the opioid crisis that is gripping our nation."

#FakeMelania resurfaced online after the Trumps visited Alabama earlier this month in the wake of a tornado.

While many social media users focused on a single frame of the Trumps mourning in front of white crosses in the state, Trump made it the point of reference saying pictures of his wife were manipulated by the media.