Cable news anchor can’t be an easy gig. You need to have hours of talking points for minutes of actual news, not to mention all the “unbelievably stupid” debates (it’s the closest M&M objectifier Tucker Carlson came to being correct about something). But one of the easier parts of the job is being able to tell difference between Melania Trump, the former president’s wife, and not Melania Trump. Even Kerry from Succession can tell them apart. And yet!
Earlier today, as Donald Trump became the first former or current U.S. president to be charged with federal crimes (congrats!), Fox News reported that his wife joined him at a courthouse in Miami. “We have some video that we want to play out here, Melania Trump entering the courthouse just a short time ago,” anchor John Roberts said. “There she is. Just out of the vehicle and now going toward the courthouse.” The thing is: it wasn’t Melania.
A few minutes later, however, Roberts told viewers that it was actually Trump assistant Margo Martin that the network had spotted exiting a vehicle. “We thought that was Melania Trump who was arriving, apparently it was not Melania, apologies for that,” Roberts noted, adding: “But a day like today, with so many comings and goings, it’s easy from a distance to mistake two people.”
To be fair (and/or balanced), this isn’t the first time that another woman in the Trump orbit has been mistaken for Melania. There’s even a “Melania Trump replacement conspiracy theory” page on Wikipedia, because of course there is. Remember when conspiracy theories were fun? We have to go back.
Here’s fake Melania:
Here’s Fox News’ original claim that Melania Trump had arrived at the federal courthouse in Miami. pic.twitter.com/Kk2QMj0MoP
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 13, 2023
(Via the Daily Beast)