Did Melania Trump Plagiarize Speech From Michelle Obama? [VIDEO]
CLEVELAND (CBS Detroit/AP) - Melania Trump's well-received speech Monday to the Republican National Convention contains two passages that match nearly word-for-word the speech that first lady Michelle Obama delivered in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention.
The passages in question focus on lessons that Donald Trump's wife says she learned from her parents and the relevance of their lessons in her experience as a mother. They came near the beginning of her roughly 10-minute speech. Mrs. Trump's address was otherwise distinct from the address that Mrs. Obama gave when then-Sen. Barack Obama was being nominated for president.
Trump's campaign responded in a statement that said her "immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech." The statement didn't mention Mrs. Obama. "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," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said.
White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday evening.
WWJ's Charlie Langton spoke with Professor Gleaves Whitney, Director of Grand Valley State University's Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, who said this is an obvious case.
"I do think there's plagiarism, I think it was deliberate. I think somebody — either through pressure of time or laziness or just an unethical streak in their personality — cribbed from Mrs. Obama's 2008 speech," said Whitney, who's worked as a speech writer himself.
"I have a feeling that somebody went back and did a little study of other first ladies, potential first ladies, and what they were saying, and they just got lazy or they were unethical and thought that they could get away with it."
On the other side of the argument is Jared Maynard, an alternate delegate and former chair of the Macomb County Republican Party, was in the audience for Trump's speech. He told Langton it sounded original.
"I don't think she stole Michelle Obama's speech; I don't think she did that at all," said Maynard. "She delivered remarks that were wonderful for the convention, talking about her growing up and her family and why she came here and why she thinks it's a privilege to be an American."
As for the similarities between the speeches, Maynard said: "I don't know how you explain it, but I know that last night we saw a stark difference between Melania Trump as first lady and the current first lady."
Rocky Raczkowski, a Republican political insider who was also in attendance, said to call the speech plagiarism is going too far.
"Ronald Reagan said the same thing also 30 years ago. So, wait a minute. Who is plagiarizing who," he said. "I'm shocked that anyone would consider plagiarism to be concepts about dreams, working hard, or children being our future."
Trump himself made a brief, but showy, entrance at the convention to introduce his wife. Emerging from shadows, he declared, "We're going to win, we're going to win so big." Trump returned to the stage after his wife's remarks, greeting her warmly with a kiss and cheering her on along with the crowd.
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