Plagiarists never prosper.
That’s what we got told all through school and warned about doubly at University. Try to get a bit cheeky and lift a quote or paragraph from someone else, and you will be found out.
Cite your sources. Get your Harvard references in. Wikipedia is not an academic source. Plagiarism is an academic crime. (Yes we realise the irony of writing this as journalists.)
But in the world of post-facts politics, just about anything goes. Which is why we imagine Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, tried passing off a large portion of a Michelle Obama speech as her own at the Republican National Convention this week.
Addressing a crowd of Republican delegates in Cleveland, Melania was found to be lifting lines directly from a speech given by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Journalist Jarret Hill was the first to notice Melania’s speech was a little… familiar.
OMG. Melania. That was literally a whole line from Michelle Obama 2012.
“…their willingness to work hard for them.””#GOPConvention
— jarrett, chill 🫶🏽✨🍉 (@jarretthill) July 19, 2016
It soon developed that Melania’s speech wasn’t simply taking the odd line or sentence, but was lifting whole paragraphs.
CORRECTION: Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle's speech. #GOPConvention
WATCH: https://t.co/8BCOwXAHSy pic.twitter.com/zudpDznGng— jarrett, chill 🫶🏽✨🍉 (@jarretthill) July 19, 2016
Mike Hearn, a producer from New York Public Radio went even further to put both speeches side by side, revealing the level of plagiarism involved.
So that's pretty blatant, right? pic.twitter.com/EPnHME7afV
— Mike Hearn (@mikehearn) July 19, 2016
Rather damning.
So in true internet form, where first there was shock, soon began the laughter, as #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes quickly became a trending topic on social media, with commenters coming up with other speeches Melania Trump could “borrow” from.
"In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days." #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
— Angie Thomas (@angiecthomas) July 19, 2016
"I have had it with these mothahfuckin' snakes on this mothahfuckin' plane" #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) July 19, 2016
Yippee Kay Yay Mother F*cker #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
— Rumer Willis (@TheRue) July 19, 2016
"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation" #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
— Stuart Millar (@stuartmillar159) July 19, 2016
The Twitter shade is on form this morning… #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/EUSCycAH5m
— Maps Maponyane (@MapsMaponyane) July 19, 2016
It all got rather embarrassing for Melania’s team, who soon issued a statement explaining the similarities between the speeches.
Statement on Melania Trump Speech pic.twitter.com/80KgS0jxXz
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) July 19, 2016
Opting for the tried and tested Uni student method of “I liked the quote so much, I wrote it down but forgot to say where it came from”, it appears that Melania Trump may just be out of the woods with this PR gaffe.
With imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, why not copy the speech of someone in the job you want?
But it only begs the question: how on earth did Trump’s team think they would get away with it?
