Sure, Melania plagiarized Michelle’s speech. Big deal. She needed a good ‘first lady speech’ and so she stole from the best one she could find. The interesting thing is how she altered what she stole from Michelle’s speech.
Here’s Michelle’s 2008 speech:
And 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 to 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.
Here’s Melania’s cribbed portion:
From a young age my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for
what you want in life. That your work 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. 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. I am fortunate
for my heritage but also for where it brought me today.
It’s not hard to see what bits were stolen VERBATIM.
What I find interesting is what she couldn’t bring herself to say. While Michelle’s speech is about “Barack and I”, Melania’s is just about Melania. She leaves Trump out! This is because she cannot bring herself to include him in all her noble sentiments. Michelle asserts that she and Barack were BOTH raised with the same “core values”, but not The Donald. Michelle asserts that she and Barack BOTH believe that “your word is your bond” and “you do what you say you’re going to do”, but for Melania, only SHE was taught these things. Michelle asserts that she and Barack BOTH work to pass these values “on to the next generation”, but for Melania, this is HER task alone.
Melania leaves Trump out of these lofty ideals because he’s OBVIOUSLY not followed them during his lifetime. The idea that Donald Trump has a noble set of ‘core values’ is absurd. The assertion that Donald Trump believes that ‘your word is your bond’ is ridiculous given his notorious history of underpaying his sub-contractors and using bankruptcy to break his contracts. And, the suggestion that Donald Trump is a positive role model for future generations is utterly laughable. Even his WIFE, the person we would expect would know the most about ‘the REAL Donald Trump’ cannot make herself say such transparent falsehoods.
Michelle’s wonderful speech made a strong case for Barack’s moral fitness as our President. Melania’s speech highlights Trump’s moral bankruptcy by excising him from all the noble characteristics so well on display with Michelle and Barack. Perhaps Melania possesses them too, but even she cannot attribute them to Donald Trump, and she (presumably) knows his character better than anyone. This was worse than ‘damning with faint praise’, it really amounts to ‘indicting through omission’.
