# The Republican national Convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729 "2016-06-18T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/381 "2016-07-19T14:57:45Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > And, now, satire is truly dead: > > [Trump campaign denies plagiarism in Melania's speech, blames reaction on Clinton](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/trump-campaign-denies-plagiarism-melanias-speech-blames-reaction-clinton/87282068/) Wow. Ninja’d by _USAToday_. I amaze myself. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/382 "2016-07-19T14:59:53Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > And, now, satire is truly dead: > > [Trump campaign denies plagiarism in Melania's speech, blames reaction on Clinton](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/trump-campaign-denies-plagiarism-melanias-speech-blames-reaction-clinton/87282068/) No one has explained how Clinton evaded security, snuck into campaign HQ, logged onto the computer and changed the speech. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/383 "2016-07-19T15:08:03Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > No one has explained how Clinton evaded security, snuck into campaign HQ, logged onto the computer and changed the speech. Just like her agents got through security in BENGAZHI and killed the diplomats there. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/384 "2016-07-19T15:10:27Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > No one has explained how Clinton evaded security, snuck into campaign HQ, logged onto the computer and changed the speech. She hacked in, through the server in her basement. (I wouldn’t be all that surprised if they actually tried to claim that.) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/385 "2016-07-19T15:12:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > They aren’t quite identical, no…but many of the words, and the phrasing, _are_ the same, and I find it very, _very_ hard to believe that it was anything other than intentional plagarism. > > I’ll be very curious to see how the Trump campaign handles this today, because Manafort’s initial reaction was pretty lame. Anything other than “yes, someone lifted these lines, and that person has been dismissed from the campaign” shows an even deeper lack of morals than Trump’s campaign has already shown (and I didn’t think that that was possible). They may just stick with the lame initial reaction and then try to ignore the whole thing, since they know that it won’t matter to his supporters anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/386 "2016-07-19T15:13:30Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > She hacked in, through the server in her basement. (I wouldn’t be all that surprised if they actually tried to claim that.) At this point it wouldn’t surprise me if they used your post as a source. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/387 "2016-07-19T15:14:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > From that article: > > OMG. Plagarism is acceptable, if there’s only a little bit of it? Seriously? Well, to be fair, these are people who apparently feel it’s perfectly OK to hijack popular songs for political ends, without royalty agreements. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/388 "2016-07-19T15:16:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, to be fair, these are people who apparently feel it’s perfectly OK to hijack popular songs for political ends, without royalty agreements. Christie was a prosecutor. I wonder if a valid defense would be “Hey, 93% of my life has been crime-free”. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/389 "2016-07-19T15:28:31Z")
Copy pretty phrases that express a sentiment you like… Stoopid at this level…but “meh” otherwise. Copy the most recent first lady speech from a hated rival on the opposite side? That’s a true genius level of fuck-up that can’t be anything other than willful sabotage. Or perhaps a triple agent…you know, pretending to be a double agent trying to sabotage the campaign…layers people…read between the lines. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/390 "2016-07-19T15:33:03Z")
You know what I noticed? What differences there are between Michelle’s speech and Melania’s are all shortenings. Like, what you’d see if someone was skipping over a few words on the teleprompter to make up time. I have to wonder if the original written form of the was even closer. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/391 "2016-07-19T15:33:21Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Nah, Michelle is nowhere near that heavily muscled or unattractive. But classy is not a word I’d use to describe her. Nor successful, nor a symbol of hard work and upward mobility Michelle Obama was born into a working class household. She worked hard and graduated from Princeton with honors and Harvard law school. Before becomming first lady she worked at a non-profit. But none of that shit counts because she’s a Democrat. Hey, remind me again how civil and well-mannered people of your generation are. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/392 "2016-07-19T15:33:30Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Copy pretty phrases that express a sentiment you like… > Stoopid at this level…but “meh” otherwise. > > Copy the most recent first lady speech from a hated rival on the opposite side? That’s a true genius level of fuck-up that can’t be anything other than willful sabotage. > > Or perhaps a triple agent…you know, pretending to be a double agent trying to sabotage the campaign…layers people…read between the lines. Who wrote the stuff between the lines? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/393 "2016-07-19T15:34:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You know what I noticed? What differences there are between Michelle’s speech and Melania’s are all shortenings. Like, what you’d see if someone was skipping over a few words on the teleprompter to make up time. I have to wonder if the original written form of the was even closer. Was the written speech released to the press beforehand or immediately after? ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/394 "2016-07-19T15:36:15Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > And, now, satire is truly dead: > > [Trump campaign denies plagiarism in Melania's speech, blames reaction on Clinton](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/trump-campaign-denies-plagiarism-melanias-speech-blames-reaction-clinton/87282068/) I see the headline, but I don’t see where anyone actually blamed Clinton for the speech or the reaction. Melania’s speech writer ought to be fired. Whether it was intentional plagiarism, sheer carelessness or amazing coincidence doesn’t matter at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/395 "2016-07-19T15:38:16Z")
Someone else pointed this out - I wouldn’t even think it would be such a big deal if she had plagiarized a speech from Nancy Reagan, or something. But to steal a speech from your hated rival, the person who your party freaked out over because once upon a time she wanted to feed kindergarteners better? It’s disgusting but the irony is priceless. But thank you guys for covering this! There was no way I was going to watch any of it, I like my blood pressure where it is. It’s way more entertaining to read your reports, except for one person who is apparently living in the state of Denial permanently. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/396 "2016-07-19T15:39:03Z")
There is a chance that the person who wrote the speech is someone who, shall we say, can’t be fired from the campaign. [Cory Lewandowski throws Manafort under the bus.](https://twitter.com/politico/status/755422368286277632) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/397 "2016-07-19T15:40:26Z")
Really, they should have just sent Melania out there, “Boohoo, I was scared and trying to write my speech and reading other speeches and I just liked those words and it was so scary giving a speech…” start the waterworks and let the media look like jerks for picking on the poor immigrant woman who just had to give a nationally televised speech. I suppose doubling down on “This wasn’t plagiarism” works too though. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/398 "2016-07-19T15:40:29Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > \*\*I see the headline, but I don’t see where anyone actually blamed Clinton for the speech or the reaction. > \*\* > Melania’s speech writer ought to be fired. Whether it was intentional plagiarism, sheer carelessness or amazing coincidence doesn’t matter at this point. I haven’t seen it in print but Manafort and other Trumpbots have been saying it on the air. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/399 "2016-07-19T15:40:48Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I see the headline, but I don’t see where anyone actually blamed Clinton for the speech or the reaction. It looks like the USA Today article has been modified in the past hour, and Manafort’s comment was shortened in the revision. From the BBC: > [@](#): > > “There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama’s speech,” said Paul Manafort, Mr Trump’s campaign manager. > > "I mean, this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down,‘’ he added. > **[US election: Melania Trump 'plagiarised' Michelle Obama](https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36832095)** > > Donald Trump's wife, Melania, takes centre stage at the Republican Convention but faces accusations of plagiarising a speech by Michelle Obama. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/400 "2016-07-19T15:49:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > There is a chance that the person who wrote the speech is someone who, shall we say, can’t be fired from the campaign. > > [Cory Lewandowski throws Manafort under the bus.](https://twitter.com/politico/status/755422368286277632) No way, plagiarizing Michelle Obama and then tossing in a Rick Roll on top of it is a sign of deliberate torpedoing of the speech. Someone wanted to screw her up in the most deliberate way possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=21)