Yeah, I’ll bet Donald will have a thing or two to say to Melania’s speech writer over this (like you’re fired!). Because you know that it is highly unlikely that Melania wrote the speech herself. As it is the speech writer did her a disservice by copying a theme that sounds identical to what Michelle O. said in 2008. It lets the Democrats take all kinds of cheap shots at her. Which also make me wonder if said speech writer wasn’t working for the other side. Hey we already know those staunch Republican’s the Bush’s are working with the other side now.
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Donald Trump’s campaign is denying any similarities between Melania Trump’s speech during the Republican convention and Michelle Obama’s speech during the Democratic convention is 2008, and instead blaming it on Hillary Clinton.
Campaign manager Paul Manafort not only denied the accusations (he called them “crazy” on CNN Tuesday morning) but he suggested that the reaction was because Hillary Clinton felt “threatened.”
“There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values that she cares about her family and things like that,” Manafort said. “I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night, she knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy.”
“I mean, this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work,” he added.
There is no indication that Clinton had anything to do with the speech or the reaction to it. The similarities in wording were first noticed by journalist and interior designer Jarrett Hill.
And Trump’s communications adviser Jason Miller sent out a statement continuing the denial.
"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,” Jason Miller, Trump’s communications adviser, said in a statement. “Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.”
But Trump's wife told NBC's Matt Lauer ahead of the speech: "I wrote it. And with as little help as possible.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and the head of Trump's White House transition team, appeared on NBC's “Today” on Tuesday and said that just a fraction of the speech was similar. He said “93% of the speech is completely different than Michelle Obama’s speech."
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast if it were up to him he'd fire the speechwriter.
"I don't blame her," Priebus said. "Some of these things are pretty common types of themes."
But he had a positive spin moving forward: "The distraction gets you off message a little bit this morning, but I think we'll get back to action this afternoon," he said.
On Monday night Trump’s wife gave a rare speech — which was well received — but the conversation shifted away from that after it was discovered that there was an entire section that was almost word-for-word the same as Obama’s in 2008.
While not verbatim, the similarity in the statements look higher than being 93% different.
Here's the excerpt from Obama in 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."
And here's the passage from Trump's remarks Monday night that came under scrutiny:
“From a young age, 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.They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. 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.”
The Twitter hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
Actor Jesse Williams tweeted a series of quotes using the hashtag.
Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz also appeared on CNN Tuesday where she discussed the fallout from the speech.
"Certainly, Melania Trump deserves credit for delivering a very nice speech and comported herself well in front of the American people last night," the Florida Democrat said. "The Trump Organization is going to have to answer for the content of that speech, and the side by side is pretty clear, and the evidence, as you said, really isn't in dispute, and so we'll leave it to them to answer for the similarities between other individuals who have delivered speeches on that."
When asked about Manafort's accusation that Clinton had something to do with it Wasserman Schultz said it was part of a pattern with the campaign.
"You know, the Trump Organization, whether it's Paul Manafort or anyone, all the way up to Donald Trump himself, anytime they are caught red handed engaging in distortions, inaccuracies, a fact pattern that is clearly not accurate, they blame someone else," she said.
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