| Revision as of 21:05, 20 July 2016 edit96.59.186.103 (talk) In response to comments by another editor, claiming my change went beyond what really was (exaggerated), I am toning down the description, which, this time, I think it more accurate. (Good faith edit)← Previous edit |
Latest revision as of 13:15, 14 December 2018 edit undoCydebot (talk | contribs)6,812,251 editsm Robot - Speedily moving category Controversies of the United States presidential election, 2016 to Category:Controversies of the 2016 United States presidential election per CFDS. |
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{{mergeto|2016 Republican National Convention#Melania Trump's speech|discuss=Talk:Melania Trump speech plagiarism controversy|date=July 2016}} |
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{{quotefarm|date=July 2016}} |
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{{external media |float=right |width=23em |image1=, ''The Washington Post'', July 19, 2016. Some portions of the two speeches were "very similar" and other parts were nearly identical.<ref name="Plagiarism allegations"/> }} |
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On July 18, 2016, ] gave a speech on the first day of the ]. The speech contained a paragraph that was nearly identical to a paragraph of ]'s speech at the ].<ref name="Plagiarism allegations">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-national-convention-scrutiny-of-melania-trumps-speech-follows-plagiarism-allegations/2016/07/19/3efc4208-4da4-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html |title=Scrutiny of Melania Trump's speech follows plagiarism allegations |first1=Karen |last1=Tumulty |authorlink1=Karen Tumulty |first2=Robert |last2=Costa |authorlink2=Robert Costa (journalist) |first3=Jose |last3=DelReal |date=July 19, 2016 |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/19/melania-trumps-speech-appears-to-have-cribbed-from-michelle-obamas-in-2008/ |title=Melania Trump's speech appears to have cribbed from Michelle Obama's in 2008 |first=Philip |last=Bump |date=July 19, 2016 |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/us/politics/melania-trump-speech.html |title=Melania Trump's Speech Bears Striking Similarities to Michelle Obama's in 2008 |first1=Maggie |last1=Haberman |authorlink1=Maggie Haberman |first2=Alan |last2=Rappeport |first3=Patrick |last3=Healy |date=July 19, 2016 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref> |
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==Background== |
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Before delivering the speech, Trump had told ]' that she and a speechwriter had been "working on the speech" for the past "five to six weeks". In that same NBC News interview Trump stated that she had "read it once over" and that she "wrote it with as little help as possible."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.today.com/news/melania-trump-convention-speech-i-wrote-it-little-help-possible-t100942 |title=Melania Trump on convention speech: 'I wrote it with as little help as possible' |first=Scott |last=Stump |date=July 19, 2016 |publisher=Today |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/exclusive-the-trumps-speak-with-matt-lauer-727480899958 |title=Exclusive: The Trumps speak with Matt Lauer |date=July 18, 2016 |publisher=MSNBC |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref> |
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According to sources cited by the ''New York Times'', Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, commissioned a speech by two speechwriters, ] and John McConnell, who sent Melania a draft. Melania rejected it, and worked on her own speech. She got help from ], who worked on some of Donald Trump’s books, including ''Think Like a Billionaire''. In researching the speech, she read previous convention speeches delivered by candidates’ spouses.<ref>, By MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL BARBARO, New York Times, JULY 19, 2016</ref> |
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To be more precise, McIver places some of the blame on Ms. Trump: "In a statement issued by the campaign, Meredith McIver took the blame but made it clear that Mrs. Trump knew the passages were from the first lady's speech."<ref>{{cite web|last=OHLEMACHER |first=STEPHEN |url=http://www.theledger.com/article/20160720/NEWS/160729994?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar |title=Trump speechwriter apologizes for Melania Trump's speech |website=TheLedger.com |date=2016-07-20 |accessdate=2016-07-20}}</ref> |
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McIver is a staff writer for ], author, former ballerina,<ref>{{cite web|last=Jane |first=Emily |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/07/melania-trump-rnc-speech-ballerina |title=Is a Ballerina to Blame for Melania Trump’s Plagiarized Speech? |publisher=] |date=2014-01-02 |accessdate=2016-07-20}}</ref> and registered ]. <ref>{{cite web|last=Otis |first=Ginger Adams |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-staff-writer-meredith-mciver-registered-democrat-article-1.2718891 |title=Donald Trump staff writer Meredith McIver who apologized for Melania’s plagiarism scandal is a registered Democrat |publisher=] |date=2016-07-20 |accessdate=2016-07-20}}</ref> |
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==Reaction== |
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Following Trump's speech, various media outlets reported similarities as alleged plagiarism.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Engel|first1=Pamela|title=Melania Trump’s speech appeared to lift from parts of Michelle Obama's 2008 convention address|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-takes-center-stage-night-one-gop-convention-2016-7 |date=July 19, 2016 |accessdate=July 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Allen|first1=Cooper|title=Was Melania Trump's speech plagiarized from Michelle Obama?|url=http://amp.usatoday.com/story/87278088/ |work=USA Today |date=July 19, 2016 |accessdate=July 19, 2016}}</ref> Chris Harrick, the vice president of ], discovered that Trump used about 6% of Michelle Obama's words and found two types of plagiarism, "clone" and "find and replace".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Eliza|title=Professors say Melania's speech would count as plagiarism|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/professors-weigh-in-melania-speech-plagiarism/87296008/|accessdate=July 20, 2016|date=July 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Korn|first1=Melissa|last2=Belkin|first2=Douglas|title=Was Melania Trump Speech ‘Common Words’ Or Plagiarism? Professors Parse|url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/was-melania-trump-speech-common-words-or-plagiarism-professors-parse-1468982640|accessdate=July 19, 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|date=July 20, 2016}}</ref> Various media outlets suggested that members of ] should respond to the accusations, which they did a few hours after the speech in the form of the following statement by the campaign's senior communications advisor, Jason Miller: <blockquote>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 love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.</blockquote> |
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], chairman of the ], described the speech as "inspirational" but said if plagiarism were found, he thought "it certainly seems reasonable" to fire the person who wrote the speech.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/2016/07/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_itd_be_reasonable_to_fire_melania_trumps |title=RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: It'd be 'reasonable' to fire Melania Trump's speechwriter |first=Ted |last=Johnson |date=July 19, 2016 |work=Boston Herald |accessdate=July 19, 2016}}</ref> ], Donald Trump's campaign chairman, called it a "great speech" and said "obviously Michelle Obama feels very similar sentiments toward her family". He later said "to think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy", adding "This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work against Melania Trump."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/us/politics/melania-trump-speech.html |title=Questions Over Melania Trump's Speech Set Off Finger-Pointing |first1=Maggie |last1=Haberman |authorlink1=Maggie Haberman |first2=Alan |last2=Rappeport |first3=Patrick |last3=Healy |first4=Jonathan |last4=Martin |date=July 19, 2016 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=July 19, 2016 }}</ref> Sean Spicer, director of communications for the Republican National Committee, defended the speech by saying that similar statements have existed before her speech such as quotes by ], ], and ] from '']''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tatum|first1=Sophie|title=RNC official cites 'My Little Pony' to defend Melania Trump|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/sean-spicer-melania-trump-my-little-pony/|accessdate=July 19, 2016|publisher=CNN|date=July 19, 2016}}</ref> Legend himself responded to Spicer on ] by tweeting "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sarlin|first1=Benjy|last2=Tur|first2=Katy|last3=Vitali|first3=Ali|title=Trump Campaign Struggles to Manage Melania Trump Speech Fallout|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-conventions/trump-campaign-struggles-manage-melania-trump-speech-fallout-n612446|accessdate=July 19, 2016|date=July 19, 2016}}</ref> Meanwhile, ], the voice actress for Twilight Sparkle, commented that "Plagiarism is not magic".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Axelrod|first1=Joshua|title='My Little Pony' voice actress on Melania: 'Plagiarism is not magic'|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/my-little-pony-voice-actress-on-melania-plagiarism-is-not-magic/article/2597021|accessdate=July 20, 2016|date=July 19, 2016}}</ref> |
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David Lauter from the ''Los Angeles Times'' stated that while these allegations are unlikely to cost Trump votes, the distraction is unhelpful, referring to it as a "lost opportunity" for the campaign.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-melania-trump-plagiarism-accusations-20160719-snap-story.html|title=Why the plagiarism allegations against Melania Trump matter for her husband's campaign|author=David Lauter|newspaper=]|date=July 19, 2016|accessdate=July 19, 2016}}</ref> |
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On July 20, 2016, McIver issued the following statement: |
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In working with Melania on her recent first lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.<ref> Letter. Meredith McIver. July 20, 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|title=Melania Trump’s Speechwriter Takes Responsibility for Lifted Remarks|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/melania-trump-speech-meredith-mciver.html|accessdate=July 20, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=July 20, 2016}}</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|30em}} |
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{{Trump}} |
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