Tag: plagiarism
White House Pledge: This Time, Melania's Speech Won't Be Plagiarized

White House Pledge: This Time, Melania's Speech Won't Be Plagiarized

A spokesperson for Melania Trump assured Americans on Tuesday that the first lady's address at the Republican National Convention will not be plagiarized.

Four years ago, Trump plagiarized chunks of Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention address, as a side-by-side comparison of the two speeches shows.

This year, said Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary who now serves as a spokesperson for the office of the first lady, Trump's speech will not be stolen from her predecessor.

From an Aug. 25 appearance by Grisham on MSNBC:

MSNBC HOST HALLIE JACKSON: In 2016, of course, her convention speech was criticized for plagiarism of Michelle Obama. What is your team doing differently this time around to make sure that doesn't happen again in the writing process?
STEPHANIE GRISHAM: Well, I think that it's been very, very clear that over the last three-and-a-half years Mrs. Trump has done nothing but learn and grow in this role and she's been doing a fantastic job at that.
We've been working really hard the last three weeks, I can tell you that every word in this speech is from her. It is very authentic and it's going to come from the heart. So we're really excited for people to hear from her.
It will be one of her longer speeches that she has given and I think the American people will be really excited to hear some of the things that she's going to say.
Monica Crowley Declines National Security Post Amid Plagiarism Reports

Monica Crowley Declines National Security Post Amid Plagiarism Reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Monica Crowley, the foreign policy adviser tapped for a White House job under President-elect Donald Trump, will relinquish the post, a transition official told Reuters on Monday.

A Fox News and talk radio personality, Crowley had been chosen to serve as senior director of strategic communications at the National Security Council. Her appointment had been shadowed by reports of plagiarism in news outlets including CNN and Politico.

“After much reflection I have decided to remain in New York to pursue other opportunities and will not be taking a position in the incoming administration,” she said in a statement quoted by the Washington Times.

“I greatly appreciate being asked to be part of President-elect Trump’s team and I will continue to enthusiastically support him and his agenda for American renewal.”

A CNN review found this month that Crowley plagiarized thousands of words of her 2000 dissertation for her Columbia University Ph.D.

In addition, Politico reported that it found more than a dozen examples of plagiarism in Crowley’s Ph.D. dissertation.

She had been hired to work for Trump’s national security adviser, retired General Michael Flynn, who said in a statement quoted by the Washington Times that he will miss the opportunity to have Crowley on his team.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by James Dalgleish)

#EndorseThis: Trump Campaign Defends Melania’s Speech

#EndorseThis: Trump Campaign Defends Melania’s Speech

This morning, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort defended last night’s speech by Melania Trump against claims that she plagiarized it from Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. But, as countless news outlets have pointed out, the evidence is pretty overwhelming that at least a portion of Trump’s speech is essentially identical to Obama’s remarks.

Even former Trump campaign manager and current CNN commentator Corey Lewandowski acknowledged the similarities, saying that whoever was responsible for the wording of the speech should be “held accountable” and that if it was Manafort, he should resign.

But Manafort, who was famously at odds with Lewandowski when they were both on the campaign, pushed back on the ridicule and criticism today, telling CNN’s Chris Cuomo, “To think that she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd.”

Admittedly, before she delivered the speech, Melania herself implied that she was largely responsible for the wording. But that’s likely a significant exaggeration, as her speech was almost surely looked over and likely written by members of the Trump campaign.

Today at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast, RNC chair Reince Priebus said that he would “probably” sack the speechwriter responsible.

https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/755255314107162624

In the meantime, Twitter has exploded with famous quotes being sarcastically attributed to Melania. And to add insult to injury, former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau pointed out that the speechwriter who worked with Michelle Obama on the copied remarks used to work for Hillary Clinton.

Some are speculating that the plagiarism was purposeful, an attempt to undermine the Trump campaign. Further proof that this might be the case: Melania “Rickrolled” the entire country right in the middle of her speech.


Photo: CNN.