Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s wife Melania, who took the centre stage at the Republican convention on Tuesday to defend her husband, faced accusations that a portion of her speech plagiarised Michelle Obama’s 2008 address at Democratic convention.
No sooner had the poised, 46-year-old former model, until now a minor presence on the campaign trail, delivered her speech to cheering delegates than the unmistakeable similarities to a passage from Ms Obama’s speech came to light. In the passages both the women are introducing themselves to the American public by speaking of the values that have shaped their lives.
Ms Trump’s speech was the highlight of a chaotic opening day of a Republican convention that is set to formally nominate her husband as the party’s presidential candidate later this week.
According to the New York Times, Jarrett Hill, a television journalist, spotted the resemblance between Ms Trump’s speech and Ms Obama’s. He said that one of Ms Trump’s lines — the words “strength of your dreams” — caught his attention. “It kind of made me pause for a minute... I remembered that line from Michelle Obama’s speech.”
As the controversy broke out, Mr Trump, who had personally introduced his glamorous, European-born wife to the delegates, breaking with tradition by appearing before his actual nomination, tweeted: “It was truly an honor to introduce my wife, Melania. Her speech and demeanor were absolutely incredible. Very proud!”
