Viral social media theory explains how Donald Trump’s ‘bronzer use amps up when he’s stressed’
A photo editor went viral on Instagram and later Twitter (formerly X) with a bronzer theory about Donald Trump.
The viral social media theory explains how former President Trump’s use of bronzer appears to escalate when he is “stressed,” especially in the days leading up to the election.
Photo editor Emily Keegin first shared the theory with her 281,000 Instagram followers in a multi-part carousel of photos as evidence that after Trump first started wearing makeup on The Apprentice, his use continued and later escalated.
An X user then shared screenshots with the message: ‘A photographer I follow on Instagram has figured out that his bronzer use intensifies when he’s stressed/close to an election and connected to his days in the rise of reality TV, and it’s fascinating.’
The concept quickly went viral, receiving 758 comments and 16,000 retweets.
A photo editor went viral on Instagram and later Twitter (formerly X) with a bronzer theory about Donald Trump
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump dances as he leaves a campaign rally in North Carolina on October 30, 2024
“His inconsistency with it is the most interesting to me,” one X user shared of Trump, who had a much lighter shade in August 2024, as seen above
“His inconsistency with it is the most interesting thing to me,” the X user shared.
In the original Instagram theory, Emily explained that until recently she thought Trump’s makeup choices were simply made for a TV audience.
“We* need to talk about the bronzer,” Emily wrote on Instagram, before explaining that she notes his skin tone “tends to fluctuate wildly depending on the lighting and the photographer’s color palette.”
The photo editor shared photos from when he took office in 2017 and said he was “significantly less orange” at the time.
“The more stress…more makeup,” she explained, showing photos of him in court with a darker complexion.
Emily then shared a photo of Trump, 78, after his debate with Biden, 81, where he didn’t look bronzed at all.
However, she shared a photo from October 30, in which his bronzer appeared darker than ever, as well as a photo from his Madison Square Garden meeting.
“He’s usually darkest in October,” Emily explained, which coincides with his presidential campaign.
Trump’s skin has apparently become browner as he gets closer to Election Day
Trump pauses during a campaign rally on Oct. 31, 2024, in Nevada, looking quite tanned
With less than a week until Election Day, Trump is campaigning for re-election in the battleground states of North Carolina and Wisconsin
She likened it to “brow blindness,” a trend on TikTok where people didn’t realize their eyebrows didn’t look right at the time, and likened it to a dysphoric state.
The photo expert also pointed out that the presidential candidate started using bronzer in January 2004, when he first appeared on The Apprentice.
The businessman is said to have grown accustomed to wearing makeup on reality television and carried the look over to his subsequent public appearances.
Former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson once claimed he stopped wearing masks because they smeared his bronzer.
Emily and Cassidy aren’t the only ones who have commented on Trump’s evolving skin tone, which has become an ongoing debate as people wonder whether he uses a tanning bed or a tanning bed.
Former aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman even claimed he had a tanning bed installed at the White House residence, although an insider later denied these claims to DailyMail.com.
After the GOP nominee appeared in an orange vest at his rally in Wisconsin, social media users pointed out that he was increasingly “getting more orange” over the course of his presidential campaign.
Some even compare him to the Oompa-Loompas from the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
“Trump is evolving into his final, neon orange form!” someone wrote on social media at the time.