Trump Organization writer takes responsibility for Melania Trump speech

An in-house writer from the Trump Organization took responsibility for the plagiarism in Melania Trump&#039;s speech at the Republican National Convention.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 20 July 2016

Trump Organization in-house writer Meredith McIver took responsibility for writing Melania Trump's highly-criticized convention speech, which apparently borrowed large passages from a speech Michelle Obama gave at the Democratic convention in 2008. In an open letter, McIver explained that Melania "has always liked Michelle Obama" and "read me some passages from Mrs. Obama's speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama's speeches. This was my mistake."

McIver said she offered her resignation to the Trump family on Tuesday, which they rejected. "Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes," she said.

Two of George W. Bush's speechwriters, Matthew Scully and John McConnell, were originally asked to write the speech, which they drafted and sent to Melania for approval. They never heard back; Melania was reportedly "uncomfortable with the text, and began tearing it apart, leaving a small fraction of the original," The New York Times writes. She then began to work on it with McIver, who the Times describes as "a New York City-based former ballet dancer and English major who has worked on some of Mr. Trump's books, including Think Like a Billionaire."

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In the days since Melania delivered her speech, the Trump campaign and assorted Republicans have scrambled to explain why Trump's wife apparently plagiarized the current Democratic president's wife:

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.