Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel is brushing off a report that a quote attributed to him on his campaign’s Facebook page was actually from a speech given by former President Ronald Reagan.
Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski first noticed the quote that appeared in a Feb. 13 post on the Facebook page for McDaniel’s U.S. Senate campaign. McDaniel lost in the Republican primary earlier this year to incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS).
LOL, Chris McDaniel plagiarized Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural. https://t.co/Q7boqxOGJy
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) October 7, 2014
Here is a screenshot of McDaniel’s post:
And this is an excerpt from Reagan’s first inaugural speech (.pdf) on Jan. 20, 1981:
“It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.”
McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch released a statement to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger dismissing the source of the claims.
“It is highly comical that of all media outlets, BuzzFeed is apparently the self-appointed ‘Facebook plagiarism’ police,” Fritsch said. “Given that they referenced a post from February, one might even think Chris McDaniel’s name was on the general ballot this November 4th.”
As the official reincarnation of Ronald Reagan (Southern mythic version), Chris McDaniel is well within his rights to plagiarize the late president.
Reagan got it from the racist states right crowd in Philadelphia, MS in 1980
“Given that they referenced a post from February, one might even think Chris McDaniel’s name was on the general ballot this November 4th.”
Chris McDaniel who? ~ McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch
The face looks familiar-I think he was voted off the island during the second season of Survivor.
“It is highly comical that of all media outlets, BuzzFeed is apparently
the self-appointed ‘Facebook plagiarism’ police,” Fritsch said.
Hey Noel, I saw somebody steal your lawnmower last month but I haven’t reported it cause I don’t want to be one of the ‘Toro Troopers.’
Is that okay?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3JBUxLDHo8