Presidential candidate Donald Trump took to the stage at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to riotous applause on Monday, but it was a speech given by his wife Melania that garnered the most attention, because it shared some fairly strong similarities with an address given by current First Lady Michelle Obama in 2008.
Accusations of plagiarism are now flying on social media and in the press, provoking a comical response from Twitter users.
Online jokesters are using the hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes to show off some of the other tidbits the GOP candidate’s spouse might have said.
Slovenian-born Melania has been accused of lifting a number of lines from First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
The apparent plagiarism was originally pointed out by journalist and interior designer Jarrett Hill on Twitter.
It’s unclear how much of her speech Melania actually wrote, but earlier in the day she told NBC’s Matt Lauer, “I read once over it and that’s all. Because I wrote it and with [as] little help as possible.”
Trump’s communications adviser Jason Miller, in a response early Tuesday, acknowledged that Melania Trump plagiarised “fragments” of her speech and referred to a “team of writers,” essentially refuting her claim that she wrote the speech.
“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,” Miller said in a statement. “Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.”