Trump campaign issues non-response to accusations of plagiarism, calls Melania Trump's speech 'a success'

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 19 July 2016

Early Tuesday, the Trump campaign called the speech Melania Trump gave at the Republican National Convention Monday night — which contained lines that were nearly identical to passages from Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech — a "success."

The plagiarism accusations began to swirl just minutes after Trump finished her speech, when a Twitter user noted the similarities between the two speeches. It took a few hours for the Trump campaign to release a statement, which wound up not addressing the scandal at all. "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking," said Jason Miller, senior communications advisor. "Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success."

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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.