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Melania Trump has become the centre of a bizarre Twitter storm after people became convinced that a body double was being used to “play” her during TV appearances.

Some people even went as far as to suggest that she had been replaced by a robot.

The speculation started when Mrs Trump appeared beside her husband, the President, on the South Lawn of the White House wearing large sunglasses which were covering a lot of her face.

She stood next to President Trump as he spoke to reporters and maintained a sombre expression, without saying anything.

One Twitter user, Joe Vargas, immediately jumped to the conclusion that the woman in the should could not possibly be the real First Lady.

“This is not Melania,” he wrote. “To think they would go this far and try and make us think it’s her on TV is mind blowing.

"Makes me wonder what else is a lie."

He then said that he become suspicious when President Trump referred to her as "my wife Melania, she's right here" as if he as "try[ing] to convince the media it was her".

His post was shared thousands of times and the web erupted with mocking tweets about Mrs Trump and her “body double”.

One person wrote: “This story is silly I mean where would they find another woman willing to go places with him.”

One Twitter user going by the name ‘pumpkinsauce’ wrote: “Melania trump was replaced by a very lifelike robot 14 years ago the only giveaway from this remarkable machine is the cold, dead eyes.”

And another, just known as Mak, suggested the First Lady had “died on election night 2016 and was replaced by a Russian robot.”

Someone even made a Fake Melania Twitter account.

Others, however, did not appear to see the humour in the tweets, with: "Of course liberals who believe in #TrumpRussia conspiracy theories would believe that Melania Trump is actually using a body double.”

The incident harked back to a 2016 conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton also had a body double.

Melania Trump: Best fashion moments - In pictures 50 show all Melania Trump: Best fashion moments - In pictures 1/50 September 22, 2017 At the Boys and Girls Club event Getty Images 2/50 1990s At an event in New York Diane Freed/Getty Images 3/50 1990s With her then-boyfriend Donald Trump Getty Images 4/50 November 13, 2003 At the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York Getty Images 5/50 June 7, 2004 At the CFDA Fashion Awards Getty Images 6/50 December 13, 2004 At a gala to honour leaders in tourism Getty Images 7/50 February 27, 2005 At the Vanity Fair Oscars Party Getty Images 8/50 January 22, 2005 On the way to her wedding with Donald Trump Jeffrey Langlois/PB Daily News/Palm Beach Daily News/Rex 9/50 April 20, 2005 At the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Annual Hot Pink Party Getty Images 10/50 June 23, 2005 At the premiere of "War Of The Worlds" in New York Getty Images 11/50 September 18, 2005 At the Emmy Awards Getty Images 12/50 February 6, 2008 At a reception to benefit UNICEF hosted by Gucci Getty Images 13/50 May 24, 2010 At the "Sex And The City 2" premiere in New York Getty Images 14/50 May 2, 2011 At the Met Gala Getty Images 15/50 May 7, 2012 At the Met Gala Getty Images 16/50 October 9, 2016 At the second presidential debate at Washington University AFP/Getty Images 17/50 November 9, 2016 On stage during Donald Trump's election night event Getty Images 18/50 January 19, 2017 At the Candlelight Dinner one day before her husband Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President EPA 19/50 January 20, 2017 With Michelle Obama at the White House AP 20/50 March 17, 2017 At their Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach Getty Images 21/50 April 27, 2017 At the White House AFP/Getty Images 22/50 April 5, 2017 The Trump's welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania of Jordan Getty Images 23/50 May 25, 2017 At the arrival of the French President AFP/Getty Images 24/50 May 26, 2017 At the Chierici Palace City Hall of Catania AFP/Getty Images 25/50 May 26, 2017 At the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina AFP/Getty Images 26/50 June 29, 2017 Awaiting the arrival of the Korean President and his wife AFP/Getty Images 27/50 June 26, 2017 Bidding farewell to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi AFP/Getty Images 28/50 June 24, 2017 At the wedding of US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin Getty Images 29/50 July 6, 2017 On route to the Hamburg G20 economic summit Getty Images 30/50 July 7, 2017 At the G20 economic summit Getty Images 31/50 July 8, 2017 At the second day of the G20 summit Getty Images 32/50 July 25, 2017 At the Make America Great Again rally AFP/Getty Images 33/50 July 13, 2017 On a visit to Paris Getty Images 34/50 September 23, 2017 Ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation 35/50 September 20, 2017 At the United States Mission in New York AFP/Getty Images 36/50 September 14, 2017 At the White House Historical Association Getty Images 37/50 October 3, 2017 Preparing to board Marine One AFP/Getty Images 38/50 October 11, 2017 With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau Getty Images 39/50 October 20, 2017 At the Smithsonian National Museum of American History AFP/Getty Images 40/50 November 3, 2017 On a trip to Asia Getty Images 41/50 November 7, 2017 On a visit to Seoul Getty Images 42/50 November 9, 2017 In the Great Hall of the People AFP/Getty Images 43/50 November 9, 2017 At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing AFP/Getty Images 44/50 November 21, 2017 At the pardoning ceremony of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Getty Images 45/50 December 31, 2017 At Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort New Year's Eve party AFP/Getty Images 46/50 April 23, 2018 US first lady Melania Trump walks outside the White House AFP/Getty Images 47/50 April 24, 2018 U.S President Donald Trump, and U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrive at first State Dinner Getty Images 48/50 April 24, 2018 Melania stands with French first lady Brigitte Macron Getty Images 49/50 24 April 2019. US President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington EPA 50/50 January 13, 2020 Melania Trump and Donald Trump put their hands over their hearts for the anthem Getty Images 1/50 September 22, 2017 At the Boys and Girls Club event Getty Images 2/50 1990s At an event in New York Diane Freed/Getty Images 3/50 1990s With her then-boyfriend Donald Trump Getty Images 4/50 November 13, 2003 At the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York Getty Images 5/50 June 7, 2004 At the CFDA Fashion Awards Getty Images 6/50 December 13, 2004 At a gala to honour leaders in tourism Getty Images 7/50 February 27, 2005 At the Vanity Fair Oscars Party Getty Images 8/50 January 22, 2005 On the way to her wedding with Donald Trump Jeffrey Langlois/PB Daily News/Palm Beach Daily News/Rex 9/50 April 20, 2005 At the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Annual Hot Pink Party Getty Images 10/50 June 23, 2005 At the premiere of "War Of The Worlds" in New York Getty Images 11/50 September 18, 2005 At the Emmy Awards Getty Images 12/50 February 6, 2008 At a reception to benefit UNICEF hosted by Gucci Getty Images 13/50 May 24, 2010 At the "Sex And The City 2" premiere in New York Getty Images 14/50 May 2, 2011 At the Met Gala Getty Images 15/50 May 7, 2012 At the Met Gala Getty Images 16/50 October 9, 2016 At the second presidential debate at Washington University AFP/Getty Images 17/50 November 9, 2016 On stage during Donald Trump's election night event Getty Images 18/50 January 19, 2017 At the Candlelight Dinner one day before her husband Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President EPA 19/50 January 20, 2017 With Michelle Obama at the White House AP 20/50 March 17, 2017 At their Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach Getty Images 21/50 April 27, 2017 At the White House AFP/Getty Images 22/50 April 5, 2017 The Trump's welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania of Jordan Getty Images 23/50 May 25, 2017 At the arrival of the French President AFP/Getty Images 24/50 May 26, 2017 At the Chierici Palace City Hall of Catania AFP/Getty Images 25/50 May 26, 2017 At the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina AFP/Getty Images 26/50 June 29, 2017 Awaiting the arrival of the Korean President and his wife AFP/Getty Images 27/50 June 26, 2017 Bidding farewell to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi AFP/Getty Images 28/50 June 24, 2017 At the wedding of US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin Getty Images 29/50 July 6, 2017 On route to the Hamburg G20 economic summit Getty Images 30/50 July 7, 2017 At the G20 economic summit Getty Images 31/50 July 8, 2017 At the second day of the G20 summit Getty Images 32/50 July 25, 2017 At the Make America Great Again rally AFP/Getty Images 33/50 July 13, 2017 On a visit to Paris Getty Images 34/50 September 23, 2017 Ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation 35/50 September 20, 2017 At the United States Mission in New York AFP/Getty Images 36/50 September 14, 2017 At the White House Historical Association Getty Images 37/50 October 3, 2017 Preparing to board Marine One AFP/Getty Images 38/50 October 11, 2017 With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau Getty Images 39/50 October 20, 2017 At the Smithsonian National Museum of American History AFP/Getty Images 40/50 November 3, 2017 On a trip to Asia Getty Images 41/50 November 7, 2017 On a visit to Seoul Getty Images 42/50 November 9, 2017 In the Great Hall of the People AFP/Getty Images 43/50 November 9, 2017 At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing AFP/Getty Images 44/50 November 21, 2017 At the pardoning ceremony of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Getty Images 45/50 December 31, 2017 At Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort New Year's Eve party AFP/Getty Images 46/50 April 23, 2018 US first lady Melania Trump walks outside the White House AFP/Getty Images 47/50 April 24, 2018 U.S President Donald Trump, and U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrive at first State Dinner Getty Images 48/50 April 24, 2018 Melania stands with French first lady Brigitte Macron Getty Images 49/50 24 April 2019. US President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington EPA 50/50 January 13, 2020 Melania Trump and Donald Trump put their hands over their hearts for the anthem Getty Images

The theory went viral, with #Hillarysbodydouble trending on Twitter, and a well-known impersonator of the former First Lady was even forced to deny her involvement.

The rumours started after Mrs Clinton had been forced to leave an event early due to a bout of pneumonia.

She looked unwell at the 9/11 commemorative event, but then appeared later outside her daughter’s New York apartment looking better.

Conspiracy theorists were convinced that the woman seen later, who did not have any security around her, was not the politician but was instead impersonator Theresa Barnwell.

Ms Barnwell later Tweeted saying she had been in LA and had played no part in the incident.