# 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:** 23
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/441 "2016-07-19T17:25:51Z")
I am convinced that the Trump team plagiarized Michele’s speech. However, I am leaning towards the Rickroll being a coincidence. The text is similar but not an exact copy. If this was deliberate sabotage, why wouldn’t the speech writer make it closer? **Astley** : Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. **Melania** : He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/442 "2016-07-19T17:27:19Z")
Of course! The scales fall from my eyes, all is clarity, revealed! Melania is a trim, healthy and youthful 46 years old. He’s going to dump her, and needed an excuse. Should have been obvious, feel a bit silly for taking so long. ---
**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, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/443 "2016-07-19T17:28:41Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > CNN: No one to be fired after plagiarism incident. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/) Tht makes sense. If they started firing people for fuck-ups like this, there would be no support team left at all by the time the election rolled around. ---
**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, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/444 "2016-07-19T17:30:19Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I am convinced that the Trump team plagiarized Michele’s speech. > > However, I am leaning towards the Rickroll being a coincidence. The text is similar but not an exact copy. If this was deliberate sabotage, why wouldn’t the speech writer make it closer? > > **Astley** : Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. > > **Melania** : He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down. I don’t know about that. The way she said it sounds forced. Why not just say something like “he will never ever give up fighting for you”? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/445 "2016-07-19T17:30:59Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I won’t even bother to go on except to say that there’s a little part of me that’s starting to almost buy into the idea that the whole thing is intended to throw the election to the Democrats. If it wasn’t for his having a really good chance of winning, you might have something. But he does, so you don’t. Trump’s campaign has him almost neck and neck with Clinton. He has made up ground the last few weeks. AS Nate Silver points out today, Clinton’s lead is about the same as John Kerry’s was at precisely the same point in 2004, a man you may recall has the distinction of not ever being President. This isn’t funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/446 "2016-07-19T17:32:26Z")
> [@](#): > > As campaign chairman Paul Manafort indicated at his morning news conference, the campaign’s posture is to simply move on from this without addressing it any further. Who wants to bet that Trump will take up a significant chunk of airtime addressing it? “Have you seen Melania? She’s great. And the media is being very unfair to her. OK? It’s horrible. These Republicans who said they’d fire her speechwriter are being very disloyal to me. I’d never have admitted it was plagiarized. I don’t back down. That’s why I’m a winner.” ---
**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, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/447 "2016-07-19T17:34:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If it wasn’t for his having a really good chance of winning, you might have something. But he does, so you don’t. > … Of course I don’t. It wasn’t a serious conjecture. ---
**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, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/448 "2016-07-19T17:38:01Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > CNN: No one to be fired after plagiarism incident. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/) I can’t say that this surprises me at all. The only thing missing is Manafort putting his towel over his head, fully believing that the [Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_races_and_species_in_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Ravenous_Bugblatter_Beast_of_Traal) will just go away. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/449 "2016-07-19T17:38:56Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I am convinced that the Trump team plagiarized Michele’s speech. > > However, I am leaning towards the Rickroll being a coincidence. The text is similar but not an exact copy. If this was deliberate sabotage, why wouldn’t the speech writer make it closer? > > **Astley** : Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. > > **Melania** : He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down. It’s as close as you can make it without making it an awkward phrasing in the speech. If it’s unintentional, it’s a hell of a coincidence. ---
**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, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/450 "2016-07-19T17:39:22Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I don’t know about that. The way she said it sounds forced. Why not just say something like “he will never ever give up fighting for you”? Everybody was Trump-fu fighting His hair was fast as lightning Though his tan was a little bit frightening He spoke with batshit raving ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/451 "2016-07-19T17:41:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Best lines of the day. > > Manaforte, Christie et al. deny there was any plagiarism? Whew. There are none so blind as will not see. It is very difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. -Melania Trump ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/452 "2016-07-19T17:41:44Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Michael Flynn (retired Army lieutenant general) is a real party: “Crush our enemies.” > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > “see zem driven before yuh…and hear da lamentation of dar wimmin!” > > 😃 He’s channeling Melania Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/453 "2016-07-19T17:45:54Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Nah, that’s not the Trump Way. > > The initial contract called for $10,000 to write Melania’s speech. When Trump got the speech, he told the writer that it was a poor job, and he’d only pay him $5,000, and if the writer didn’t accept it, Trump would tell the world that he was crappy writer. This is much more Trump’s style of business. > > The clever writer had put a couple of poison pills in the speech though; if he had been paid in full, he would have taken them out of the final copy. I love this theory. It’s like those urban legends about the contractor who blocks the chimney with a pane of glass and then drops the brick down the chimney after the homeowner pays in full. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/454 "2016-07-19T17:46:13Z")
Yep, for sure. Nailed her. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/455 "2016-07-19T17:48:35Z")
[CNN explains rickrolling.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/index.html) (The last part of the article.) For the three people who don’t know what it is. ---
**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, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/456 "2016-07-19T17:54:45Z")
I’m stunned that Trump has opened himself up to being called a bad husband by not defending his wife by refusing to fire the person responsible for humiliating her in front of millions. I love my wife and, if I were in DJT’s shoes, the only way heads aren’t rolling is if I wrote those words myself. What an asshole. What sort of man just leaves her publicly hanging ass-end into the wind like this? Oh, to be a fly on the wall whenever those two are in the same room today. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/457 "2016-07-19T17:59:15Z")
I don’t think anyone would draw a line between the speech, no firings, and Trump being a bad husband, since there was no plagiarism, since he thinks there wasn’t. What he thinks is true is true, or should be. And anyway, you don’t think he loves Melania Trump, do you? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/458 "2016-07-19T18:02:47Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I am convinced that the Trump team plagiarized Michele’s speech. > > However, I am leaning towards the Rickroll being a coincidence. The text is similar but not an exact copy. If this was deliberate sabotage, why wouldn’t the speech writer make it closer? > > **Astley** : Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. > > **Melania** : He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down. That’s the beauty of it. Presumably, many people read the speech beforehand. If it quoted the rickroll word for word, somebody would have noticed. The way it was done gave it a chance to escape notice and stay in the final draft. Deliberate and hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/459 "2016-07-19T18:02:55Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > And anyway, you don’t think he loves Melania Trump, do you? I don’t think Donald J. Trump loves anyone or anything that isn’t named “Donald J. Trump”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/460 "2016-07-19T18:05:32Z")
Unsurprisingly, her [backstory](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-2016-melania-trump-biography-225781), now getting some attention, is as fictitious as her husbands. Can you imagine if Michelle Obama had pulled anything like this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=24)