Twitter reacts to Melania Trump plagiarism accusations

Anna Iovine
Updated
Did Melania Trump Copy Michelle Obama?
Did Melania Trump Copy Michelle Obama?

Donald Trump's wife Melania took the stage Monday night during the Republican National Convention. Her speech included powerful words on hard work and honesty -- but something was off.

Soon after, observers on Twitter exposed that many parts of Melania's speech appeared to be taken directly from Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech.

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This first came to light from a tweet by journalist Jarrett Hill.

Here's an example of a passage Melania is accused of lifting:

Melania: 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. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life.

Michelle: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like, you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond; that 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.

Twitter boomed with discussion about this, and #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes soon emerged. The tongue-in-cheek hashtag attributes well-known quotes of others to Melania.

See Twitter reactions to Melania's supposed plagiarism (Note: Some tweets contain explicit language):

Trump's campaign soon responded to the accusations. His senior communications adviser Jason Miller said, "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."

He continued, "Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success."

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