Last night at the Republican National Convention in Ohio, Melania Trump gave a speech that was received with incredible support and love from Donald Trump supporters.
The wife of the presidential candidate seemed poised and confident, speaking of the family values that in many ways got them to this point in the election. It was beautifully written.
But unfortunately for the Trump campaign, Melania Trump’s speech was laughably similar to that of the one given by Michelle Obama on August 25, 2008 in Denver, Colorado.
- Read more: Donald Trump shops around for Vice-Presidential running-mate
- Read more: Donald Trump is no true Republican
Donald Trump campaign officials said on Tuesday that the plagiarism allegations are “crazy,” but personal details from Melania’s past aside, large parts of her speech are just too similar to deny the presence of plagiarism.
Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that “[to] think she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd.”
Trump Campaign Spokesman Jason Miller responded to the allegations by saying:
“In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it a success.”
Miller’s comment makes things even more interesting, considering both Manafort and Melania herself claim the presidential candidate’s wife wrote the majority of the speech with as little help as possible, leaving people questioning who exactly wrote it.
Here are some of the major comparisons social media and others have been making:
Melania Trump (July 2016): “My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect.”
Michelle Obama (August 2008): “And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you are going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.”
MT: “They taught me to show the values and morals in my daily life. That is the lesson that I continue to pass along to our son.”
MO: “And Barack and I set out to build our lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generations.”
MT: “And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow, because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
MO: “Because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievement is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them”.
You can watch a side-by-side video comparison of both speeches here.
Other speakers at last night’s convention included actor Scott Baio (Happy Days) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who defended Trump last night by saying: “I am sick and tired of the defamation of Donald Trump by the media and by the Clinton campaign. I am sick and tired of it. This is a good man.”
Melania concluded her speech by saying her husband has always been an amazing leader and “now he will go to work for you” — something she hopefully did not copy from Michelle Obama.
Sources: CNN, Financial Times.