Source: ALEX WONG / Getty
Melania Trump by most accounts gave a great speech last night for opening night of the Republican National Convention. However, it appears that she may have plagiarized her speech from Michelle Obama’s address to the 2008 Democratic convention.
While it wasn’t the whole speech, an entire section of Mrs. Trump’s speech appears to be lifted directly from Mrs. Obama’s. Mrs. Trump’s words:
“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect,” Melania said [emphasis added]. “They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow 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.”
Mrs. Obama’s eight years ago:
“Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. 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.”
The Trump campaign insists that the speech was written for her, despite Melania Trump’s statement to NBC prior to the opening of the convention stating that she wrote it “with as little help as possible.”
// <![CDATA[
(function(){var h,k=this,l=function(a,b){var c=a.split("."),d=k;c[0]in d||!d.execScript||d.execScript("var "+c[0]);for(var e;c.length&&(e=c.shift());)c.length||void 0===b?d=d[e]?d[e]:d[e]={}:d[e]=b},m=function(a){var b=typeof a;if("object"==b)if(a){if(a instanceof Array)return"array";if(a instanceof Object)return b;var c=Object.prototype.toString.call(a);if("[object Window]"==c)return"object";if("[object Array]"==c||"number"==typeof a.length&&"undefined"!=typeof a.splice&&"undefined"!=typeof a.propertyIsEnumerable&&!a.propertyIsEnumerable("splice"))return"array";if("[object Function]"==c||"undefined"!=typeof a.call&&"undefined"!=typeof a.propertyIsEnumerable&&!a.propertyIsEnumerable("call"))return"function"}else return"null";else if("function"==b&&"undefined"==typeof a.call)return"object";return b},aa=function(a){var b=m(a);return"array"==b||"object"==b&&"number"==typeof a.length},p=function(a){return"string"==typeof a},q=function(a){var b=typeof a;return"object"==b&&null!=a||"function"==b},ba=function(a,b,c){return a.call.apply(a.bind,arguments)},ca=function(a,b,c){if(!a)throw Error();if(2<arguments.length){var d=Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,2);return function(){var c=Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);Array.prototype.unshift.apply(c,d);return a.apply(b,c)}}return function(){return a.apply(b,arguments)}},t=function(a,b,c){t=Function.prototype.bind&&-1!=Function.prototype.bind.toString().indexOf("native code")?ba:ca;return t.apply(null,arguments)};var u=function(a,b){var c=parseInt(a,10);return isNaN(c)?b:c};var x;var y=String.prototype.trim?function(a){return a.trim()}:function(a){return a.replace(/^[\s\xa0]+|[\s\xa0]+$/g,"")},z=function(a,b){return ab?1:0};var da=Array.prototype.indexOf?function(a,b,c){return Array.prototype.indexOf.call(a,b,c)}:function(a,b,c){c=null==c?0:0>c?Math.max(0,a.length+c):c;if(p(a))return p(b)&&1==b.length?a.indexOf(b,c):-1;for(;c<a.length;c++)if(c in a&&a[c]===b)return c;return-1},ea=Array.prototype.forEach?function(a,b,c){Array.prototype.forEach.call(a,b,c)}:function(a,b,c){for(var d=a.length,e=p(a)?a.split(""):a,f=0;f<d;f++)f in e&&b.call(c,e[f],f,a)},fa=function(a){var b=a.length;if(0<b){for(var c=Array(b),d=0;dparseFloat(L)){K=String(N);break a}}K=L}var O=K,P={},Q=function(a){var b;if(!(b=P[a])){b=0;for(var c=y(String(O)).split("."),d=y(String(a)).split("."),e=Math.max(c.length,d.length),f=0;0==b&&f<e;f++){var g=c[f]||"",n=d[f]||"",v=RegExp("(\\d*)(\\D*)","g"),va=RegExp("(\\d*)(\\D*)","g");do{var r=v.exec(g)||["","",""],w=va.exec(n)||["","",""];if(0==r[0].length&&0==w[0].length)break;b=z(0==r[1].length?0:parseInt(r[1],10),0==w[1].length?0:parseInt(w[1],10))||z(0==r[2].length,0==w[2].length)||z(r[2],w[2])}while(0==b)}b=P[a]=0<=b}return b},R=k.document,ka=R&&H?J()||("CSS1Compat"==R.compatMode?parseInt(O,10):5):void 0;var S;if(!(S=!I&&!H)){var T;if(T=H)T=9<=Number(ka);S=T}S||I&&Q("1.9.1");var la=H&&!Q("9");var ma=function(a){var b=document;return p(a)?b.getElementById(a):a},oa=function(a,b){var c=b||document;return c.querySelectorAll&&c.querySelector?c.querySelectorAll("."+a):na(a,b)},na=function(a,b){var c,d,e,f;c=document;c=b||c;if(c.querySelectorAll&&c.querySelector&&a)return c.querySelectorAll(""+(a?"."+a:""));if(a&&c.getElementsByClassName){var g=c.getElementsByClassName(a);return g}g=c.getElementsByTagName("*");if(a){f={};for(d=e=0;c=g[d];d++){var n=c.className,v;if(v="function"==typeof n.split)v=0<=da(n.split(/\s+/),a);v&&(f[e++]=c)}f.length=e;return f}return g},qa=function(a,b,c){function d(c){c&&b.appendChild(p(c)?a.createTextNode(c):c)}for(var e=1;e<c.length;e++){var f=c[e];!aa(f)||q(f)&&0<f.nodeType?d(f):ea(pa(f)?fa(f):f,d)}},ra={SCRIPT:1,STYLE:1,HEAD:1,IFRAME:1,OBJECT:1},sa={IMG:" ",BR:"\n"},ua=function(){var a=document.getElementById("feedback-closing-template");if(la&&null!==a&&"innerText"in a)a=a.innerText.replace(/(\r\n|\r|\n)/g,"\n");else{var b=[];ta(a,b,!0);a=b.join("")}a=a.replace(/ \xAD /g," ").replace(/\xAD/g,"");a=a.replace(/\u200B/g,"");la||(a=a.replace(/ +/g," "));" "!=a&&(a=a.replace(/^\s*/,""));return a},ta=function(a,b,c){if(!(a.nodeName in ra))if(3==a.nodeType)c?b.push(String(a.nodeValue).replace(/(\r\n|\r|\n)/g,"")):b.push(a.nodeValue);else if(a.nodeName in sa)b.push(sa[a.nodeName]);else for(a=a.firstChild;a;)ta(a,b,c),a=a.nextSibling},pa=function(a){if(a&&"number"==typeof a.length){if(q(a))return"function"==typeof a.item||"string"==typeof a.item;if("function"==m(a))return"function"==typeof a.item}return!1},wa=function(a){this.v=a||k.document||document},xa=function(a,b){return oa("feedback_description",b||a.v)};h=wa.prototype;h.createElement=function(a){return this.v.createElement(String(a))};h.createTextNode=function(a){return this.v.createTextNode(String(a))};h.appendChild=function(a,b){a.appendChild(b)};h.append=function(a,b){qa(9==a.nodeType?a:a.ownerDocument||a.document,a,arguments)};h.canHaveChildren=function(a){if(1!=a.nodeType)return!1;switch(a.tagName){case "APPLET":case "AREA":case "BASE":case "BR":case "COL":case "COMMAND":case "EMBED":case "FRAME":case "HR":case "IMG":case "INPUT":case "IFRAME":case "ISINDEX":case "KEYGEN":case "LINK":case "NOFRAMES":case "NOSCRIPT":case "META":case "OBJECT":case "PARAM":case "SCRIPT":case "SOURCE":case "STYLE":case "TRACK":case "WBR":return!1}return!0};h.removeNode=function(a){return a&&a.parentNode?a.parentNode.removeChild(a):null};h.contains=function(a,b){if(!a||!b)return!1;if(a.contains&&1==b.nodeType)return a==b||a.contains(b);if("undefined"!=typeof a.compareDocumentPosition)return a==b||!!(a.compareDocumentPosition(b)&16);for(;b&&a!=b;)b=b.parentNode;return b==a};var ya=function(a){a=String(a);if(/^\s*$/.test(a)?0:/^[\],:{}\s\u2028\u2029]*$/.test(a.replace(/\\["\\\/bfnrtu]/g,"@").replace(/(?:"[^"\\\n\r\u2028\u2029\x00-\x08\x0a-\x1f]*"|true|false|null|-?\d+(?:\.\d*)?(?:[eE][+\-]?\d+)?)[\s\u2028\u2029]*(?=:|,|]|}|$)/g,"]").replace(/(?:^|:|,)(?:[\s\u2028\u2029]*\[)+/g,"")))try{return eval("("+a+")")}catch(b){}throw Error("Invalid JSON string: "+a);},Aa=function(a){var b=[];U(new za,a,b);return b.join("")},za=function(){this.m=void 0},U=function(a,b,c){if(null==b)c.push("null");else{if("object"==typeof b){if("array"==m(b)){var d=b;b=d.length;c.push("[");for(var e="",f=0;f<b;f++)c.push(e),e=d[f],U(a,a.m?a.m.call(d,String(f),e):e,c),e=",";c.push("]");return}if(b instanceof String||b instanceof Number||b instanceof Boolean)b=b.valueOf();else{c.push("{");f="";for(d in b)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(b,d)&&(e=b[d],"function"!=typeof e&&(c.push(f),Ba(d,c),c.push(":"),U(a,a.m?a.m.call(b,d,e):e,c),f=","));c.push("}");return}}switch(typeof b){case "string":Ba(b,c);break;case "number":c.push(isFinite(b)&&!isNaN(b)?String(b):"null");break;case "boolean":c.push(String(b));break;case "function":c.push("null");break;default:throw Error("Unknown type: "+typeof b);}}},Ca={'"':'\\"',"\\":"\\\\","/":"\\/","\b":"\\b","\f":"\\f","\n":"\\n","\r":"\\r","\t":"\\t","\x0B":"\\u000b"},Da=/\uffff/.test("\uffff")?/[\\\"\x00-\x1f\x7f-\uffff]/g:/[\\\"\x00-\x1f\x7f-\xff]/g,Ba=function(a,b){b.push('"',a.replace(Da,function(a){var b=Ca[a];b||(b="\\u"+(a.charCodeAt(0)|65536).toString(16).substr(1),Ca[a]=b);return b}),'"')};var Ea=function(a){var b={};if(a&&a.key_value){a=a.key_value;for(var c=0;c=this.boundingClientRect.bottom&&this.boundingClientRect.left>=this.boundingClientRect.right)},Ga=function(){var a=new Fa;return a.N&&(!a.Y||a.O>=a.X)};var V=function(a,b){this.F=a;this.l=0;this.j=document.getElementById("mtadmas");this.L=document.getElementById("mtadmaundo");this.B=document.getElementById("mtadmac");this.C=document.getElementById("mtadmback");this.I=document.getElementById("mtadmpc");this.M=document.getElementById("mtadmpundo");this.w=document.getElementById("mtadmpunclose");this.K=this.s=this.G=this.D=null;this.u=0;this.h=null;this.i=!1;this.o=null;this.T=b?b.getAdsLength():1;(this.g=b)&&this.g.registerWidget(this,0);this.H=0},Ha=function(a,b){for(var c=[],d=b;d&&"BODY"!=d.tagName;d=d.parentNode)d.style&&"block"!=d.style.display&&(c.push({el:d,val:d.style.display}),d.style.display="block");for(var d=a(b),e;e=c.pop();)void 0!==e.W&&(e.Z.style.display=e.W);return d},Ia=function(a){for(var b=document.getElementsByName("surveyOptions"),c=0;c<b.length;c++)F(b[c],t(a.U,a,b[c].value));a.L&&F(a.L,t(a.A,a,"1"));a.M&&F(a.M,t(a.A,a,"3"));a.w&&F(a.w,t(a.V,a));a.C&&F(a.C,t(a.back,a));a.g&&(a.g.listenOnObject("mute_option_selected",t(a.J,a)),a.g.forEachAd(t(function(a){a.listenOnObject("multislot_mute_collapse",t(this.S,this));a.listenOnObject("multislot_mute_collapse_undo",t(this.R,this))},a)))};V.prototype.J=function(a){this.D=a.close_button_token;this.G=a.creative_conversion_url;this.s=a.ablation_config;this.K=a.undo_callback;this.u=a.creative_index||0;this.g&&(this.o=this.g.getAd(this.u));if(1===a.type){a=oa("survey");for(var b="survey_"+this.u,c=0;c<a.length;c++)a[c].style.display=a[c].id==b?"block":"none";a=document.getElementsByName("surveyOptions");for(b=0;b<a.length;b++)a[b].checked=!1;this.j.style.display="block";W(this);X(this)}else 0===a.type&&(this.I.style.display="block",this.j.style.display="none",W(this),Ja(this,document.getElementById("pub-feedback-closing"),this.s))};var Y=function(a){a.h&&(window.clearInterval(a.h),a.h=null,a.i=!1);ma("pub-feedback-closing").style.display="none";ma("ad-feedback-closing").style.display="none"};V.prototype.A=function(a){this.i||(Y(this),G(Z(this,"user_feedback_undo",a)),this.K())};V.prototype.V=function(){var a={msg_type:"resize-me"};a.key_value=[{key:"r_nh",value:String(this.H)},{key:"r_str",value:"animate"}];a=Aa(a);window.top.postMessage(a,"*");this.i=!1;this.A("3")};V.prototype.back=function(){this.i||(Y(this),this.j.style.display="block",W(this),X(this))};V.prototype.U=function(a){this.B.style.display="block";this.j.style.display="none";X(this);G(Z(this,"mute_survey_option",a));a=document.getElementById("ad-feedback-closing");this.le||e>g||a.h)){var n=ua();c=t(function(){var a="";g<=d&&0=g&&Y(this);g–},a);c();0<=g&&(a.h=window.setInterval(c,1E3))}},Ja=function(a,b,c){if(c&&window.top&&window.top.postMessage){var d=ya(c),e=Ea(d),f="resize-me"==d.msg_type&&"animate"==e.r_str;if("ablate-me"==d.msg_type&&e["collapse-after-close"]||f&&!Ga())a.w&&(a.H=window.innerHeight,f=document.getElementById("cbtf"),f=xa(x||(x=new wa),f)[1],f=Ha(a.P,f),c=Ma(d,f)),La(a,b,u(e["secs-to-countdown"],1),u(e.countdown,0),u(e["message-tick"],1),function(){window.top.postMessage(c,"*")})}},Ma=function(a,b){if(!isNaN(b)&&isFinite(b)){var c=!1;if(a.key_value){for(var d=a.key_value,e=0;e<d.length;e++){var f=d[e];if("key"in f&&"value"in f&&"r_nh"==f.key){c=!0;f.value=b.toString();break}}c||d.push({key:"r_nh",value:b.toString()})}}return Aa(a)};V.prototype.P=function(a){var b=E(a);a=E(a.parentNode.parentNode);return parseInt(b.height,10)+parseInt(b.marginTop,10)+parseInt(a.marginTop,10)};var Ka=function(a,b){La(a,b,1,0,0,t(function(){var a={creative_index:this.o.getIndex(),undo_pingback_url:Z(this,"user_feedback_undo","1")};this.o.fireOnObject("multislot_mute_collapse",a)},a))};h=V.prototype;h.S=function(){this.l++;this.g.resetAll()};h.R=function(){0
