As you most likely know by now, Melania Trump, Donald Trump’s wife, was caught plagiarizing her GOP convention speech from Michelle Obama. You also likely know that the Donald Trump campaign, and the GOP, are feverishly working to deflect away from this latest example of why Donald Trump should never be elected. The Donald Trump campaign is wrapping the controversy around the notion that Melania Trump’s words “were common words and values” that Melania Trump cares about.
Anyone that has gone unto higher education has seen something akin to a “code of conduct.” The codes of conduct include prohibitions against plagiarism. Melania Trump (Melanija Knavs) states that she graduated from the University of Slovenia, although this is not true. She dropped out after her freshmen year. However, the University of Slovenia has a “Code of Ethics”. In Article 15, the university’s code of ethics states; “research honesty involves consistent respect of authorship, correct recognition and citation of other scholars’ research achievements”.
Donald Trump, for his part, graduated from the Wharton School, part of the University of Pennsylvania. The “Penn’s Plagiarism Policy” is clear: “Plagiarism: using the idea, data, or language of another without specific or proper acknowledgment.”
Basically, using another’s words requires that you give them the proper acknowledgement.
On Monday night, at the GOP convention, Melania Trump delivered a speech. The beginning of the speech was clearly plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech that she delivered at the DNC convention that year. Here are the texts of both speeches:
Michelle Obama, August 25, 2008 at DNC Convention: “Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do;”
Melania Trump, July 18, 2016 at GOP Convention: “My parents impressed on me, the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond, and you do what you say and keep your promise.”
Michelle Obama, August 25, 2008 at DNC Convention: “that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.”
Melania Trump, July 18, 2016 at GOP Convention: “that you treat people with respect, they taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life, that is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow.”
Michelle Obama, August 25, 2008 at DNC Convention: “And Barack and I, set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
Melania Trump, July 18, 2016 at GOP Convention: “Because you want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements, is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
There is no ambiguity, Melania Trump plagiarized Michelle Obama’s speech.
Yes, it is likely that a speech writer, or more, actually plagiarized the speech, but Melania Trump, herself is on the record stating that she wrote most of the speech herself. Even though that many not be true, which would be another lie, the fact remains that Melania Trump delivered the speech.
This is not the only controversy involving Melania Trump’s honesty. On her website, she states that she graduated from the University of Slovenia. The Trump campaign and the GOP have also stated that she
holds a university degree.
Melania Trump does not hold a university degree.
Melania Trump dropped out of the university after her freshmen year to pursue her modeling career.
Donald Trump has not been able to make it through a week without generating controversy. His brand of controversy revolves around dishonesty and racism, not to mention making fun of people with disabilities. As much as Donald Trump and the GOP try to pretend that Donald Trump is presidential material, the facts keep getting in the way.
Senator Joe Biden plagiarized his speech, now is the VP. Several others have been caught doing the same thing and some embellishing their militarty service. Didn’t Hillary tell a big one when she said she came under sniper fire? There was no misstatement or her explanation that she got caught in the moment. Either you come under sniper or not, you WILL know it !
Did Melania write the speech or was it written for her ? Not defending the behavior if true. Just making the point that this nothing new, they all do it or lie.
I’m at the point that Trump being the lesser of two evils deserves a chance. We KNOW that a Hillary will be Obama part 3 and with a heavy mixture of Bernie. That translates to the final transition to socialism not the code name progressive. If we fail with Trump can’t be any worse that the last 8 years and certainly another 4 of the disaster.
What a choice we have between a criminal and a clown. At least the clown might get the illegals out, stop TPP and cancel NAFTA, and reinstate Glass-Steagle, which is reason enough to vote for him IMHO.
Martin, a large part of your blog today is pulled from news sources and or social media posts without attribution. There is also a fact error. The questionable lines were not at the beginning of the speech but somewhere in the middle. Obviously you didn’t watch the speech or you would be aware of it. The questionable passage is about 50 words in a several thousand word speech according to Rance Preibus. Is your blog guilty of plagiarism? Yes. Much of Barack Obama’s DNC acceptance speech appeared to use phrasing that was similar to speeches given by Michael Douglas in The American President. No one said a word about it. Melania Trump isn’t running for President. This is a non-issue.
The amazing Trompas wife turns out to be an amazing plagiarizer and an amazing liar. Fancy that.
Before her speech I saw the interview of el Trompas and his obedient wife on their amazing plane conducted by some amazing media sycophant. When asked specifically about her speech, she claimed she wrote it herself.
So this amazing woman could not even write or bring herself to write a speech about her amazing husband? But she did come in the ‘right’ way and got her citizenship in 2006. So what’s a little thieving and a little lying?
And today it’s out that el Trompas Jr. ‘recycled’ parts of his speech.
I don’t get it. This is the privilege class with access to the best of education. Yet none in the trompas tribe can write a speech celebrating their patriarch on such an important occasion. Junior boy criticized public education/teachers and spoke of his own great education but had to rely on someone else’s words.
On a different note, there is a very interesting article on the New Yorker by Jane Mayer about the ghost writer for one of el Trompas’ book.
Your bs is amazing.
BOOM….dud…..Look into all the plagiarized speeches by Biden and Obama. Nothing new.
Then the “feminists” call her bitch. The “progressives” make fun of her accent. Ahh look it’s hypocrisy all over the place.
TRUMP..TRUMP…TRUMP…TRUMP
They did it again. They gave (literally) gave the land to the attorney that owns double tree and now they are giving our mountains to this high rise crap without vetting the process or through our community. The SNOOZE (NEWS) are complying again as good servants of those in power. The fools tend to believe that they will be getting jobs but what they don’t know is that most of the high end jobs will be reserved for those “yes people” and their family and friends and the cleaning for the rest for those deemed el paso’s “low wage earners” who according to them deserve the scraps.
Perhaps that is why Cardone ruled on self preservation and that of her attornies in case
Wondering which butt kisser will go tell….:)
Let’s take some of you down memory lane to the speech at the DNC 2008 convention by Michelle Obama who was called out for out right plagiarizing others peoples writing and paraphrasing others material. How so many conveniently forget such facts and use double standards so willfully and get mad when others do not take them seriously to what they write or claim. Oh let’s get real paraphrasing others writing and statements is not plagiarizing. Let me help you out paraphrase is used when you want to communicate an idea based on one source or from many sources. Some people need to check their delusional state and come back to the real world for a change.
Thomas, I usually try to stay out of the comments section, but your insistence on using the right-wing Breitbart as a source for your attempt to rebut my posts needs to be pointed out. Here are the facts:
Saul Alinsky wrote (Rules for Radicals):
Michelle Obama said:
You make a statement of fact based on erroneous information.
Source: Snopes, July 19, 2016
Thank you for participating on my blog,
Martin
Martin
Sorry I used other sources than Snopes which have pointed out several examples of Michelle Obama using others material in speeches she made. Also went back and looked at articles the media put out at the time.
Martin let us let you in on something we are not a right wing any thing we are a independent and refuse to be lead by the bull shit rhetoric and political dogma of both parties as you and others do on your blog. Once again paraphrasing is common place among all politicians and their suporters. On this you are full of it to try and claim other wise and can’t claim you are not being partisan in your claims.Sorry your bias is glaring at times. Oh we are not going to waste time citing sources because it a waste of time for those who are clearly entrenched in their thinking because no amount of proof will suffice. Martin go hug a thug in support of “The Hill”.
Oh we only are going to support Trump because “The Hill” is a clear and present danger to America where otherwise we would be voting third party. If Sanders would have been the Democratic nominee we would voted for a third party but not with “The Hill”. Is Trump a gem nope but is several cuts above “The Hill”.
Martin
Let’s be honest which most in either party doesn’t want to face up too. The leadership of both parties do not give a shit about average Americans, much less the working poor or the poor. They do not give a damn about Black people or the undocumented. We are a means to their own interest and ends nothing more.
One example of proof 8 years still nothing done about immigration and that can will be kicked down the road by both a parties and we will be hearing the some BS in the next presidential election cycle because neither parties leadership wants to fix it because their special interest money backers benefit from it not being fixed.
As we heard the other day media in America in this election cycle is making a lot of American plain stupid.