Prominent GOP speechwriters wrote a convention speech for Melania Trump. She didn't use it.
Two prominent GOP speechwriters were tasked with writing an address for Melania Trump to deliver at the Republican National Convention, but almost nothing from their draft made it into her final speech, sources say.
ABC News reports that six weeks ago, Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, approached Matthew Scully and John McConnell, the writers behind former President George W. Bush's remarks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, to see if they would write a convention speech for Melania Trump. The sources say the speech was written and given to the Trump campaign more than a month ago, and while Kushner indicated he approved the speech, McConnell and Scully didn't hear anything else from him.
Trump's convention speech ended up containing some lines that were the same or nearly identical to portions of Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. On Monday, Trump told NBC News she wrote the speech herself with "as little help as possible," and the sources told ABC News the final version included "almost nothing" of the draft by Scully and McConnell.
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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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