Republicans are resorting to My Little Pony quotes to defend Melania Trump's plagiarism


Did you wake up this morning expecting to hear that RNC communications director and chief strategist Sean Spicer used a quote from Twilight Sparkle of My Little Pony to defend Melania Trump against accusations of plagiarizing Michelle Obama?
Right. Well. Let's back up.
Melania Trump was accused of copying approximately two paragraphs of the convention speech Michelle Obama gave in 2008; due to the number of similar or exact phrases that the speeches share, the Washingtonian found that the odds of Melania Trump or her speechwriters "accidentally" using the same words in the same order that Obama did are less than one in a trillion.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Nevertheless, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort argued that Melania was simply using "common words," and that the relation between the two speeches was merely coincidental. Spicer apparently tried to hammer that point home by illustrating that if you dig hard enough, you can find similarities between Melania Trump's speech and totally irrelevant things, like My Little Pony:
Even Spicer looks embarrassed to have made that argument.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants