Politics

Melania Trump Facing Plagiarism Questions Over Her RNC Speech

July 19th 2016

Questions are being raised about whether Melania Trump's first official speech may have been too similar to Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech.

After an introduction from her husband and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Melania Trump delivered the address to a crowd at the Quicken Loans Arena on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Shortly following the speech, Twitter user Jarrett Hill pointed out a striking similarity, Vox reports.

Hill suggests that Melania Trump's speech, particularly the portion above, has a striking resemblance and structure to Michelle Obama's speech years earlier. You can watch the controversial moment in question below:

Twitter had quite a few thoughts about the plagiarism accusations.

Melania Trump was apparently working with a speech writer for several weeks ahead of the big speech, according to CNN.

It’s unclear who wrote the speech. However, in an NBC interview with Matt Lauer, Melania Trump said she wrote the speech herself:

Several CNN commentators noted after her speech that Melania Trump did not reveal new information about Donald Trump, who he was as a father or what kind of woman she might be as a First Lady of the United States. Other journalists shared a similar view:

The Trump campaign released a statement late Monday Pacific time, according to various media reports.

Robert Costa, a Washington Post reporter, reported via Twitter that Donald Trump is planning to appear on television in the morning. 

Late Monday, Donald Trump had left this message: 

Update: 11:10 p.m. PST.: This story was updated to include that the Trump campaign had released a statement.

Share your opinion

Do you think that Melania Trump's speech was similar to Michelle Obama's speech in 2008?

No 2%Yes 98%