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Eric Cantor Rebrands the Republican Party by Plagiarizing a 2011 Obama Speech
A side by side video comparison reveals that phrases and ideas in Eric Cantor’s speech rebranding the Republican Party were plagiarized from a 2011 speech by President Obama.
Al Sharpton caught Cantor’s plagiarism. Check out the video:
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There were at least three specific phrases and ideas that Cantor lifted from Obama’s 2011 speech in Kansas.
Obama called for every American to have a fair shot at success, “Well, it starts by making sure that everyone in America gets a fair shot at success. The truth is we’ll never be able to compete with other countries when it comes to who’s best at letting their businesses pay the lowest wages, who’s best at busting unions, who’s best at letting companies pollute as much as they want.”
Cantor used the exact same term today, “Our goal – to ensure every American has a fair shot at earning their success and achieving their dreams. In America, we do have higher expectations for our nation. Since our founding, we believed we could be the best hope to mankind. That hope led generations of immigrants to risk everything, to endure a tough journey to our shores, looking for a better future.”
Obama spoke about innovation, “The world is shifting to an innovation economy and nobody does innovation better than America. Nobody does it better. No one has better colleges. Nobody has better universities. Nobody has a greater diversity of talent and ingenuity. No one’s workers or entrepreneurs are more driven or more daring. ”
Cantor also spoke about innovation, “A good education leads to more innovation. Throughout our history, American colleges and universities have served as the crucible for the world’s innovation. They are a big part of why the United States remains the destination for the world’s best and brightest. Investment in education leads to innovation, which leads to more opportunity and jobs for all.”
Obama talked about the need for skills and training, “We should be giving people the chance to get new skills and training at community colleges so they can learn how to make wind turbines and semiconductors and high-powered batteries.”
Cantor also talked about the need for skills and training, “As job markets are changing, more skills training and education are needed. Federal jobs training programs ought to make it easier for Americans who are out of work or who are changing careers to get the skills they need.”
Plagiarism is defined as, “An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author.”
It is clear that Eric Cantor plagiarized the president’s thoughts and language, but it goes much deeper than that.
Cantor plagiarized Obama’s speech with the intention of co-opting the president’s language. Eric Cantor wanted to attach the same stale Republican ideas to the language of Obama. A side by side comparison of the two speeches reveals the hollowness of this technique. Obama’s speech followed the language with examples and policy proposals. Eric Cantor’s speech was full of attempts to relate to the common man and families, but specific ideas were mostly missing. This omission was intentional. Cantor is only interested in changing the tone of the Republican Party, not the policies.
Majority Leader Cantor thinks that America will support the same Republican policies that have been rejected for years if he adopts Barack Obama’s uplifting language.
Despite crediting the original author in his other speeches and remarks, Joe Biden was accused of plagiarism in 1988. These allegations forced Biden from the presidential race that year, and haunted him for years to come. If Biden committed plagiarism in 1988, Eric Cantor engaged in flat out theft.
Eric Cantor is the perfect example of the idiom, “If you can’t beat them, steal their language, attach your lousy ideas to it, and hope nobody notices.”
Image: Politico
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51 Responses to Eric Cantor Rebrands the Republican Party by Plagiarizing a 2011 Obama Speech
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bluerose
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 8:37 pm
well Can (NOT)tor looks like a snake so im not surprised
Just A Dumb Fireman
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 10:25 pm
That’s unfair to snakes.
PeedroPaula
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Plagiarism? I’m not seeing it. While the concepts may be the same, they aren’t original and the language is completely different.
Arelius705
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Does a building have to fall on your head?
mjh
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
I think one did
.
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:43 am
Soooo… you DEFINITELY feel that if the two people are using the same phrases, then:
1) It means that one copied from the other
And that
2) the second person who said it should be embarassed?
mjh
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
They were both speaking English . . .
.
Jameece
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:03 am
But see, the whole point is that plagiarism does NOT necessarily mean word for word quoting. That’s why the author included the DEFINITION of plagiarism IN the article. And Cantor definitely DID lift the main speaking points right out of Obama’s speech, even using the same words to convey the idea. They both called for a “fair shot”. If Cantor were NOT copying Obama’s speech, he could have said “equal chance”, “fair shake”, “same opportunities”, or numerous other ways of expressing that one idea. He could have used “invention” for “innovation”. He could have even reversed “skills and training” to “training and skills”, or “training new skills”, or spoken of “education” or “apprenticeships”. No, he does not use the same words. But he does use the core ideas, in the same language, in the same order, and even strikingly similar syntax.
Nancy Reese
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
I just listened to the speech on Cspan, and I swear, if I didn’t recognize the voice, I would have never known it was Cantor. Listening closely though, it was very clear that the agenda remains the same. It was just an attempt to make it more palatable. And I wondered how many people would be fooled.
Then I came across this article! The nerve of these Repubs is unbelievable! Too bad bringing this to light will have little effect,because these people have no shame.
neil
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Yep,same baloney just sliced a little bit differently.I hope every one is seeing through this charade.It seems the best the GOP can do is say it with a smile.They still hate the 47%,it is just so apparent.
Brad
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 3:40 am
The 47% who are getting Obamastuff? They do need it though since he has killed our economy.
MsJoanne
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:32 am
Yeah, that Marxist, Communist President of ours!
- The stock market is at the highest levels since 2007.
- Private companies; record profits in the last several years.
- In 2008 we were losing almost a quarter million jobs MONTHLY and we have gained in job growth every month since Obama took office.
- the deficit is being reduced (as much as you guys are loathe to admit)
Yeah, Obama is a total POS (only in a RWNJ mind).
It just kills you morons that the president’s policies, which are For The People, are actually popular and your Republican baloney is not.
Woe is you.
djchefron(Moderator)
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:42 am
You forgot the highest production of oil in 20 years.Drill baby drill.
Basheert
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:48 am
Brad, do you drive on roads? Do you have electricity in your home? Running water?
Do you work? If so you are paying into both Medicare and Social Security.
We can only assume from your comment that you will NOT accept your Social Security nor will you join any form of Medicare plan?
Have a nice retirement -
Jim Hubbard
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:52 am
“Obamastuff”? Do you mean like the “Obamaphone” that was actually a program started by George W. Bush? Do you mean like corporate welfare and unnecessarily low tax rates for the top tax tiers for the so-called job creators, both of which are part of the same supply-side economic theory that was analyzed by the Congressional Research Service and found to NOT grow the economy and only leads to an upward redistribution of wealth (and funny how conservatives don’t call THAT redistribution Socialism).
Corporations and the 1% are doing very well. If you are not doing well, you are experiencing proof that supply-side does not work.
md444444444
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Barack killed our economy with a $4 Trillion war cost…over the course of decades, including vet healthcare? Barack did that, Brad????
Adam
Feb. 8th, 2013 at 12:18 am
@md444444444
Vet Healthcare is an earned benefit…I would suggest you leave that one out…
Grasshopper
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 10:32 pm
Nice try Eric. Every word you spoke I could feel another one of your teeth being pulled.Idiot
Jeff Furlington
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 10:49 pm
Maybe this means the Republicans are starting to realize that bigotry and hate only sells to the wingnuts, and they can’t win national elections without the votes of reasonable people.
They could have stayed the course and been a regional southern party full of ignorant confederates, or they can start talking more like sensible people and maybe slowly back away from the lunatics that currently call the tune.
azportsider
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 2:01 am
I’m not buying it. Since the election all the rethuglican navel-gazing has focused on rebranding and better rhetoric to explain their policies, without even considering that the voters understood their policies just fine, and overwhelmingly rejected them. And they can’t change their policies, because nothing on earth scares a conservative more than a new idea. Cantor’s just trying to put a new coat of paint on the same sorry old dog turd.
Sandra
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 4:36 pm
I don’t expect any change to their failed ideology and policies of the past 30 years(Reaganomics). This plagarism of PO’s speech is R’thugs trying to rebrand themselves with no actual change of ideas. Still a pig with lipstick, just a different shade/colour imo.
The Platzner Post
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
Eric Cantor is a schmuck!!! Sharing on The Platzner Post Facebook, and Twitter www.facebook.com/ThePlatz...
Lynne Weaver
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 11:09 pm
On the bright side, Obama just received one heck of a thumbs up by Cantor and the Republican party. They finally realized that the President is on the right track, therefore making it necessary to follow in his footsteps. It’s either that or fold.
Shiva(Moderator)
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 12:12 am
Dont kid yourself. They didnt mean a word of it. Several members of the GOP house said today that a path to citizenship was off the table
majii
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 12:42 am
This isn’t anything new. During the presidential campaign, someone who worked for Romney copied donation instructions for Romney’s new “Victory Wallet” from Obama’s “Quick Donate” feature. After Buzzfeed noticed it, it was changed on the Romney web site. I would think that no republican would want anything having to do with PBO, since they say he never has a good idea on any subject.
Sandra
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
Yeah, Romnesia also coopted Obama’s ‘CHANGE’ from the 2008 presidential elections which I found extremely hilarious esp. since he lost, and big, so didn’t have much impact on smart, intelligent voters.
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 2:48 am
Change is actually a very common election theme.
Before this current president, a few other guys used it:
1976 Jimmy Carter A Leader, For a Change
1984 Walter Mondale America Needs a Change
Clinton also used Change as his slogan, but to a lesser degree.
Kent Walker
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 1:08 am
This is another reason Hillary must run in 16.The American people see through this creative rhetoric. The GOP waited too long the demographic shift has passed therm by. The message is very clear the time for people of color has arrived.
phooeyrat
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 1:32 am
If; This is “All” The GOP Has Got to Show for an “Example” of “Talent” in Their Party and they Have “Already” Checked Behind their Curtains for more “Wizards” Like this One (Eric Cantor) and Could-Not Find Any; What You See Is What They Got; Shallow, Uneducated, Political-Morons, Wanting to Be “Our” Leaders. Grade School “Level” Politics if not worse Shameful to this Country. In my opinion.
KarenT
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 1:55 am
I believe this is the 5th time in 2 years Cantor has “re-branded” the Republican Party. What’s the saying? Something about pigs and lipstick?
wrdsmth
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 6:25 am
as a mostly liberal person raised in a rural conservative part of Pennsylvania during the 50s and 60s, my observation is that what is currently called the ‘Republican’ party has been co-opted by the John Birch Society (the Koch brothers father was one of the founding members of the Birchers). most of my parents friends were ‘cloth coat’ republicans and if there were disagreements among them then there was an exchange of courtesy for other ideas, not vitriol.
the pubs keep talking about ‘mainstream’ ideas but haven’t noticed that the majority, the mainstream of the US, is now an urban population. having traveled by car across the US from coast to coast 4 times, there are vast, beautiful stretches of america that are low density population areas. as long as the conservative message is targeted at those areas, they will lose national elections.
the true eisenhower/dirksen/goldwater conservative still has ideas that are worthy of discussion and can add to the national dialog on our many crucial problems. the current batch who get ‘air time’ are only blowhards with no ideas that amount to a hill of beans.
Paws
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 8:10 am
A leopard doesn’t change its spots. They might be using different language, but they don’t believe a word of it. The GOP is NOT changing; they just want to make us think they are. If they were changing, they would be taking action – instead, they’re just saying pretty words and still practicing the same old obstruction as before. They think if they wrap their words in a pretty package, we’ll all be fooled. Perhaps some are. I am not. All the GOP wants to do is win elections. If they can’t do it by using pretty words, they’ll rig the system. Their policies, however, are still the same old same old.
Basheert
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:53 am
I honestly don’t know anyone who has fallen for, or even questioned the “rebranding” gimmick the GOP is now trying for the fourth time.
We know who and what they are. They cannot and will not change. They do NOT like people of color (any color that is not lily white). It is simply more attempted manipulation – something which we are so far beyond at this point, they are doomed to fail.
Cantor is a sleaze – and he whines. I don’t think that man has ever in his life told the truth about anything. Why should he start now?
Their message may have changed but that’s all it is – words. It means nothing when it comes from the mouth of a Republican Congressman.
toby
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 10:31 am
I’m assuming Obama has copywrited “fair shot”, “innovation”, and “skills” (which by the way is different than “skills training”, but….), and no one has ever used those words before or after Obama’s speachwriter penned them for Obama to read. *eyeball roll*
Shiva(Moderator)
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 10:37 am
Interesting. Here we have a person who never got past the title because he didn’t understand it. But I think we all have to understand that there are people who don’t understand that plagiarizing is also the use of ideas, not the strict wording that another person used. Please go easy on Toby
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:24 am
Then you understand and grasp that the president actually plagiarized CANTOR?
And that CANTOR pointed it out in December of 2011, when Obama appeared to copy HIS speech?
majorityleader.gov/blog/2...
Jim Hubbard
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 11:47 am
If you are going to say it’s NOT plagiarism, it’s usually a good idea to first understand the meaning of the word and how it applies to the two speeches. Anything less makes you look foolish.
Sandra
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 4:46 pm
Hey, Toby is Re’thuglican so yes, he’s foolish. The two go together, you can’t have one without the other.
majii
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
Oh, you mean the same way that Nixon, Ford, George H.W. Bush, Reagan, and George W. Bush read the words of their speechwriters off of a TelePrompTer, too? To know that even St. Ronnie had a speechwriter and that he wasn’t ashamed of it, you only have to recognize the name Peggy Noonan. She was one of President Reagan’s speechwriters. I’ve never understood you far right-wingers who can accept other presidents having speechwriters and using TelePrompTers, but for some reason, when President Obama does the same thing, it somehow means he’s “dumb,” hence, the “eye roll.” I suspect that the main reason you’re pissed at President Obama is because you know he’s smarter than you’ll ever be, and in order to make yourselves feel better, you find fault with everything he says/does and label it/him a failure. Talk about bias and a double standard–you guys have these in spades. But then, what would one expect from people who belong to a party that takes advice from poorly educated individuals like Limbaugh and Beck, people who didn’t even have what it took to earn an undergraduate degree in anything?
D. W. Skinner
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 10:45 am
The only way the republicans can do anything that pleases people… is to go away.
patsy soto
Feb. 6th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
All this means is that republicans are trying to market the same stale, awful garbage they have been hoping people would swallow.. except now they think if they put it in a differnt package, shed a different light on it, people will think it is a new republican party… It does not matter who the new face of the party is.. IF THE POLICIES ARE THE SAME, THEN COME ELECTION TIME, THE RESULTS WILL BE, TOO! That means, republicans… You will NOT LIKE THE OUTCOME IN 2014….
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:22 am
oh man.
I presume all of you did not realize that in December of 2011, CANTOR accused OBAMA of copying HIS speech…. in the speech Obama gave in Kansas.
majorityleader.gov/blog/2...
Do you have any idea how stupid any of you look right now?
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
If you’re going to rate my post as being “poor”, the least you could do is explain what was wrong with it?
I just pointed out that most of you, and I mean MOST of you, fell for a false narrative.
You know how (us) conservatives keep on talking about the left drinking the kool aid? You drank the kool aid. You repeated verbatim what the DNC is pushing without looking it up.
You literally couldn’t have been proven more wrong.
Obama copied Cantor. Correct? You see that now?
And more importantly, Cantor isn’t rebranding anything by repeating things he’s said before.
If anything, Obama was trying to emulate CANTOR!
Go.
Figure.
He emulates Cantor, and gets elected. But instead of giving Cantor the credit for the ideas, you try to suggest that Cantor is somehow following in Obama’s footsteps?
C’mon man. If you won’t go so far as to admit that it was Obama plagiarizing him, and if you can’t use the same terms about Obama that you did with Cantor…
…the very least you could do is admit that Cantor isn’t rebranding himself. And that you fell for the DNC narrative hook, line, and sinker by repeating that line.
Shiva(Moderator)
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:24 pm
LOL I can’t help but laugh. That is just about the most incredibly silly post I’ve ever seen.
Obama copied Cantor. That is simply hilarious
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Shiva,
Yes, Obama copied Cantor. Didn’t you go to the link I provided?
* The BLOG POST was written in 2011! *
Its the exact same text that you’re talking about.
Its the “majority leader’s” blog (Cantor). He talks about how Obama’s “channeled another Republican by using the exact same “fair shot” theme that Majority Leader Cantor has been discussing for the past year.”
Read it.
Cantor’s people do a side-by-side comparison of what he said, vs. what Obama said in his speech in Kansas.
Its literally 180 degrees of what you’re NOW talking about.
If you’re consistent – if you’re truly consistent – you’ll see that the president was copying Cantor in 2011.
If you read it, you’ll find that Cantor was accusing the president of copying HIM over the EXACT SAME TEXT in 2011.
Cantor’s latest speech – if you really want to criticize him – is the same type of speech he gave before. He’s not emulating the president. The president – pre-election – was emulating HIM.
Again, its all there in B&W.
djchefron(Moderator)
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:27 pm
So john is arguing with john over a poor rating.Word of advise.If you get upset because you got a thumbs down then maybe you need to post somewhere else.
We all get thumbs down, so effing what!Deal with it and grow a pair.
John
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
dj,
Pardon, but I don’t think you get what I was saying.
I’m completely cool with someone telling me that they don’t like what I’m saying, or that they disagree.
What I highly suggested is that when you’ve been proven to be 100% wrong – if you don’t think that you’ve been proven to be 100% wrong – the least you could do is show some balls yourself and explain why you were not wrong.
Or just short cut all of that, and say, “wow… you’re right. I was completely wrong there. I should have researched it first.”
Sienna Sacha
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 3:46 am
So what you’re saying is Cantor is just like Biden when he stole Kinnick’s speeches from the UK. . . ..
NCBob57
Feb. 7th, 2013 at 6:27 am
How would taking phrases from an Obama speech rebrand the Republicans. Cantor would need to take phrases from a Reagan speech to do that.
Adam
Feb. 8th, 2013 at 12:23 am
I don’t think he plagiarized anything…Obama didn’t write those words either…It just goes to show that there is, in fact, a higher authority than our government at work here.
Brigita Petrutis
Feb. 13th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Throughout the campaign, R. & R. parroted O’s words and ideas constantly. Everytime I heard a speech from one of them, their “ideas” or “plans” paralleled what their opponent had already presented. I found myself laughing out loud many times, listening to the lame brains. Yes, our President is smarter than the rest; I feel sorry for him, having such vacuous and petty Republicans throwing themselves up to block every good move, in Congress. Never in my life has the contrast appeared to be so high.