Eric Cantor Rebrands the Republican Party by Plagiarizing a 2011 Obama Speech

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:19 am

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

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association