In her prime time speech at the Republican National Convention Monday evening, Donald Trump’s wife Melania appeared to lift significant portions from a speech delivered by now-First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention where her husband Barack Obama was first nominated for President.
First noticed by Jarrett Hill, here is the relevant segment of Melania Trump’s remarks:
From a young age my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your work is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise. That you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, 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. I am fortunate for my heritage but also for where it brought me today.
And here’s an excerpt of Michelle Obama’s “One Nation” speech from 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’re 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.
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
Before delivering her remarks, Melania Trump told NBC’s Matt Lauer that she had only read the speech over once on the plane: “And that’s all, because I wrote it with a little help as possible.”
Watch Melania’s statement below. The relevant segment begins at 2:04:
Watch clips of the two speeches side-by-side here:
VIDEO: Melania Trump told NBC’s Matt Lauer before the speech: “I wrote it…with a little help as possible.” https://t.co/MZraa04Goj
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 19, 2016
Observers noticed another familiar phrase in Trump’s remarks and jumped at the chance to poke fun at the headliner on social media. The line they zeroed in on is similar to a lyric from the Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” widely known for its music video, which is the basis for the “Rickrolling” meme:
But to reiterate (and to paraphrase @tvoti), the real speechwriter’s scandal here is this ACTUAL RICKROLL?!?!?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/eSuFbbVs43
— mr. sonia (@soniasaraiya) July 19, 2016
This post has been updated.
Remember the good old days, when something like this would have mattered?
In short, her speech was as original as her breasts, lips, butt … you get the picture.
She stole only the best words.
Well, at least she picked a good role model. Er, person to plagiarize.
In all fairness, how would you like to be Mrs. Trump’s speech writer? It’s not like you can put that on your resume anyway. So WTF, who cares? She doesn’t know what she’s saying anyway.