Melania Trump accused of plagiarizing Michelle Obama's convention speech

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 19 July 2016

While listening to Melania Trump's speech Monday night at the Republican National Convention, interior designer Jarrett Hill heard a line that he thought sounded awfully familiar.

After digging around, Hill tweeted, he discovered that several lines from Trump's speech were nearly identical to lines from Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. For example, Trump said: "Because we 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." In 2008, Obama said: "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 must've liked Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech, since she plagiarized it," Hill tweeted. CNN reports that over the last five to six weeks, Trump worked with a speechwriter to craft her remarks, and she told Matt Lauer she "wrote it with as little help as possible." The Trump campaign has not commented on the similarities between the speeches, but Trump did tweet that it was "truly an honor to introduce my wife, Melania. Her speech and demeanor were absolutely incredible. Very proud!". Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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