Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:13 pm
Even Republicans who would rather wash their hair than attend that hot mess in Cleveland couldn’t have predicted it would be this bad.
Their “best” moment was Melania Trump’s speech where she failed to humanize Donald Trump and she plagiarized sections of a speech made by Michelle Obama in 2008 in her attempt to humanize him while also introducing the world to who she is.
Before she delivered the speech, Melania Trump said in an interview she wrote it with “little help.” Once the plagiarism was discovered, Trump surrogates did what they always do. Throw a thousand, at times contradicting, excuses at the wall and hope something sticks.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
It was the media’s fault ergo Hillary Clinton’s fault/ It was Melania’s own words. The speech writers did it. Those weren’t unique words. It wasn’t plagerism because they reflected Melania’s experiences and values. Per Jarret Hill’s tweet:
CORRECTION: Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle's speech. #GOPConvention
WATCH: https://t.co/8BCOwXAHSy pic.twitter.com/zudpDznGng— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
There is no end to the ironies that go with Melania Trump lifting Michelle Obama’s thoughts on values like honesty, hard work and especially respect (and dignity) for others even if you don’t know or agree with them.
As Sarah Jones pointed out, Michelle Obama’s words were embraced when they came out of the mouth of a white (Republican) woman.
Then there’s the fact that respect for others is a foreign concept in the Republican Party. They don’t even respect other Republicans as exhibited in the way they delighted in “crushing” the never Trump faction. Let alone women who dare to run for President, immigrants or Muslims.
That pales in comparison to Donald Trump’s well-publicized lack of respect for women, immigrants, Mexicans, the LGBT community, Muslims, and according to his ghost writer the whole world.
A part of me wonders if Melania Trump and/or her speechwriters resorted to plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s eloquent words because they are so lacking in respect for other people, they had to use the words for someone who not only can speak eloquently about respect others but lives by the bond of her words.
The fact lines up to suggest the possibility that respect for others is so foreign to the Republican Party, Melania Trump and/or her speech writers had to use words originally expressed by Michelle Obama.
It’s tempting to begin and end with pointing to the lack of ethics inherent in Donald Trump. If only that was the most serious issue about his candidacy.
Former contributor.
