Similarities Noticed In Michelle-Melania Speeches

Melania Trump's convention speech last night (July 18th) was supposed to be her big coming-out moment, meant to both introduce her to the American people and soften her husband Donald's image. But right after she delivered her generally well-received remarks, some noticed very close similarities between a portion of what she'd said and Michelle Obama's Democratic National Convention speech during her husband's first presidential election in 2008. News of the apparent plagiarism started appearing on social media, highlighting an entire section in a paragraph about the values she and her husband share, that was seemingly taken directly from Obama's speech, with just a few minor changes. Trump had told NBC earlier in the day that she'd written the speech, quote, "with [as] little help as possible."

Melania said last night: "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 life. 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."

Michelle Obama said in 2008: "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 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."


The Trump campaign issued a statement that read: 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." The statement made no mention of the plagiarism accusation.