Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Trump blasts reports on first lady’s body double

- Associated Press letters@hindustant­imes.com

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is not amused by the #Fakemelani­a conspiracy theories circulatin­g on social media.

He spun off a new theory on Wednesday to debunk the idea that there’s a body double of his wife who steps in for her at times. The “fake news” did it, he claimed without evidence. Trump alleged in a tweet that photos of his wife had been altered to make them appear as though a lookalike accompanie­d him to Alabama last week to survey tornado damage.

His favourite morning TV programme, Fox & Friends, reported on the body-double theory as the show’s hosts weighed in on a discussion that aired on Monday on ABC’S The View. Hosts of the ABC programme debated whether an impostor had travelled with Trump.

“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,” the president tweeted. “They are only getting more deranged with time!” Hosts of The View had commented on how the woman at Trump’s side in photos of the trip appeared shorter than usual and had a different facial structure than the first lady’s. One host allowed that the first lady might have been wearing flat shoes. In fact, the 5-foot-11 first lady had ditched her customary stilettos for sneakers to walk around the rough terrain with the 6-foot-3 Trump.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on who specifical­ly Trump thought had doctored the photos.

 ?? AP ?? US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit a line of crosses at Providence Baptist Church in Alabama.
AP US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit a line of crosses at Providence Baptist Church in Alabama.

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