Did Melania Trump Steal Michelle O bama s Quote Again
Story highlights
- Melania Trump was the main speaker at the Republican National Convention Monday
- Parts of Melania Trump's speech conduct similarities to a similar spoken language given by Michelle Obama in 2008
(CNN)Donald Trump's presidential entrada doesn't plan to burn down anybody or to take disciplinary activeness over the controversy surrounding Melania Trump'southward plagiarism of Michelle Obama, CNN learned Tuesday.
Trump's campaign hopes to simply movement on without further addressing questions nigh the speech.
Aides to the presumptive Republican nominee are scrambling to move past the imbroglio after a passage in Melania Trump'south speech Monday nighttime, which headlined the Republican National Convention's opening night, closely mirrored a portion of Michelle Obama'southward address to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
It's set off infighting and finger-pointing within Trump's entrada, and two sources told CNN that Donald Trump himself is furious about information technology.
Trump's aides chalked the controversy upwards to media bias and blamed Hillary Clinton'southward campaign -- even though the apparent plagiarism was discovered by an independent announcer and had gone viral before Clinton's allies and Democrats even weighed in.
In an interview with CNN'southward Chris Cuomo on "New Day," campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied the allegations of plagiarism.
"To think that she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her spoken communication was going to be last nighttime is just really absurd," Manafort said.
Manafort said the words Melania used were non "cribbed" but are common words.
"In that location'southward no cribbing of Michelle Obama'south speech. These were common words and values. She cares most her family," Manafort said. "To call back that she'd be appropriation Michelle Obama'south words is crazy."
Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee's master strategist, invoked "My Little Pony" in defending the oral communication in an interview with CNN'south Wolf Blitzer.
"Melania Trump said, 'the strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them.' Twilight Sparkle from 'My Fiddling Pony' said, 'This is your dream. Anything y'all can practise in your dreams, y'all can do now,' " Spicer said.
He also compared passages of Trump's speech with phrases from musicians John Legend and Child Rock.
"I hateful if we want to take a agglomeration of phrases and run them through a Google and say, 'Hey, who else has said them,' I tin practice that in 5 minutes," Spicer said. "And that'south what this is."
However, Trump's campaign faced criticism even from allies, who largely blamed staffers -- non Melania Trump.
Former Trump campaign director Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday that whoever is responsible for writing the should exist fired.
"Whoever was the staff person who wrote this speech should be held answerable and should exist fired," Lewandowski told CNN's John Berman and Kate Bolduan.
Lewandowski, who is a CNN contributor, was fired from the Trump campaign final month.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said at a Bloomberg Politics event Tuesday morning he'd "probably" fire whoever was responsible for including plagiarized quotes, though he added: "It all kinda depends on the circumstances and how these things are written."
The controversy chop-chop overshadowed the spoken language, which was to have been her introduction to voters. It focused on her immigration to the United States and her beloved for her hubby.
The Trump campaign released a statement on the speech later on the similarities were uncovered, but it did non mention the plagiarism charge.
"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 dearest for America shone through in her oral communication, which made information technology such a success," according to Jason Miller, the senior communications adviser.
New Jersey governor and Donald Trump marry Chris Christie defended the speech, saying, "There'due south no way that Melania Trump was plagiarizing Michelle Obama'southward spoken language."
"I but don't see it," Christie told CNN's Jamie Gangel in an interview Tuesday, adding later, "If we're talking about seven% of a speech communication, that was actually, universally considered to be a good functioning by Melania. I know her. In that location'southward no way that Melania Trump was plagiarizing Michelle Obama's spoken language."
Who wrote the speech?
Side-by-side comparisons of the transcripts bear witness the text in Trump's address following, virtually to the give-and-take, the would-be future start lady'south own from the first night of the Democratic convention in Denver nigh viii years ago.
There were a lot of questions virtually who wrote the speech -- but little clarity.
Sources familiar with the campaign's treatment of Melania Trump'southward speech identify tiptop Manafort deputy Rick Gates as the person inside the campaign who oversaw the unabridged oral communication process for Melania Trump.
Gates is denying he oversaw the process of putting together the speech.
When CNN'south Jim Acosta asked Gates if he oversaw the Melania Trump speech process, he said "absolutely not."
Miller also denied Gates' involvement.
"Rick's not a speechwriter and he doesn't have a office in the entrada's speechwriting process -- we have other people for that," he said. "Anybody saying differently is existence intentionally misleading."
Democrats' role
Manafort, on CNN's "New Solar day," said the scrutiny over Melania Trump's oral communication was the piece of work of Clinton'due south campaign.
"This is in one case once more an case of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's non going to piece of work," he said.
Withal, Trump'southward aides oasis't pointed to any show of Democrats' involvement in fanning the controversy.
The Clinton campaign's communications managing director Jennifer Palmieri said Manafort'southward comments about Clinton'southward involvement were untrue.
"Squeamish try, not true. @PaulManafort, blaming Hillary Clinton isn't the answer for ever Trump entrada problem," Palmieri tweeted.
Clinton's campaign on Tuesday focused instead on bashing Republicans for other speeches Monday nighttime, including the mother of a Benghazi attack victim saying she'd like to come across Clinton imprisoned and the crowd chanting at another bespeak, "Lock her up!" In a fundraising email to supporters, Clinton'due south entrada said "there'due south a deviation between cartoon a dissimilarity and baselessly maxim your opponent belongs in jail."
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday that President Barack Obama did not watch Mon night'south speeches.
"As it relates to Mrs. Trump's spoken language, I'll let all of you weigh in on all of that and try to learn more nigh how exactly it was written," Earnest said. "What I tin can say that in 2008, when Mrs. Obama spoke, she received an enthusiastic reception and strong reviews because of her words, her life story, and the values that she and her husband deeply believe in and try to instill in their kids."
Earlier in the day, Melania Trump told NBC's Matt Lauer: "I read once over it, that's all, considering I wrote information technology ... with (equally) petty help equally possible."
Hither is Trump, on Monday:
"From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that y'all piece of work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bail and yous do what you say and go along your promise, that yous 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 forth to our son," Trump said.
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 simply limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."
And here is Obama, on Baronial 25, 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 exercise what you say you're going to do; that yous treat people with dignity and respect, fifty-fifty if y'all 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. Considering nosotros desire 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 piece of work for them."
The reaction:
"(To exist honest), I was more offended by merely about every other speech than Melania's plagiarized paragraphs," former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau jokingly tweeted as the accusations went viral hours after Trump's address.
Journalist Jarrett Hill seems to have been ane of the first to notice the similarities on Twitter.
He's a big fan of the Obamas, and told CNN over the phone that ane particular line from Michelle Obama's 2008 voice communication actually spoke to him: "To know that the just limit to the height of your achievements is the achieve of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."
When he heard Melania Trump start proverb "the only limit to your achievements," he knew something was wrong.
Hill said he so Googled Michelle Obama'due south speech and saw the similar lines.
"It was kind of a total recall moment," he said.
After he posted the comparison on Twitter, his tweet garnered sixteen,000 retweets.
"Um. This is becoming a thing," he after tweeted.
Never gonna let you down?
In an even stranger twist, some on social media posited that Trump surreptitiously Rickrolled -- a mutual Internet meme involving vocalist Rick Astley -- everyone in the middle of her oral communication.
"He will never give up," she said of her husband. "And most importantly, he volition never, always allow you down."
The chorus of the 80s classic sounds very similar: "Never gonna give you up/ Never gonna permit you down/ Never gonna run around and desert you."
A scrap of background -- Rickrolling is where you get someone to unwittingly click on a link to the video of the Astley song "Never Gonna Give You lot Upward."
So, for example, if someone were to tell you to click hither, proverb it's another article about Melania Trump, and you click on that link, you would be taken to an Astley video and thus take been Rickrolled.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/index.html
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