Melania Trump’s RNC Speech Appears To Have Lifted Quite A Bit From Michelle Obama’s 2008 DNC Speech

Melania Trump’s speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention did its best to humanize the pending GOP candidate and paint a picture of the couple we might not get through all the bluster. It was a nice moment to cap off the first night of the convention, but it might be a moment we’ve seen before.

Trump told Matt Lauer earlier in the evening that her speech was written herself, “with as little help as possible”

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

But as Jarrett Hill originally pointed out and other media outlets followed up on, Melania may have pulled a chunk of her speech from another by first lady Michelle Obama. Here’s the section in question from Trump’s speech:

My parents impressed on me the value of, 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. That you treat people with respect. Show the values and morals in in the daily life. That is the lesson that we continue to pass on to our son.

We need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. [Cheering] Because we want our children in these nations to know that the only limit to your achievement is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

And now, here’s the segment from Michelle Obama’s speech in 2008:

And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that 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; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.

And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and 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.

The feelings might be true for both ladies, but there’s certainly quite a bit of similarity between the two speeches. Watch a side-by-side comparison of sorts of them below.

Here’s another.

According to CNN, Melania Trump was quite excited to give the speech:

Melania has been working with a speechwriter for the last five to six weeks, honing her speech. She stuck close to script, delivering her remarks off a teleprompter.
Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said that while Melania doesn’t love the campaign trail, she was eager to deliver this speech.

There are already calls of sabotage from some pundits, notably Chris Matthews and his already confirmed love of Melania Trump:

It seems like this could blow up to be something much larger by the morning. Was it sabotage or is it just the latest absurd Trump thing to happen this election? We’ll see.

(Via Vox / Jarrett Hill)