For most of us, the discovery that part of Melania Trump’s Republican National Convention speech had been swiped from Michelle Obama was more proof that her husband, Donald, is not fit to be president. But to a number of Trump backers on hand for the convention, it’s really no big deal.
Mother Jones hit the streets on Tuesday afternoon to ask Trump supporters what they thought of the plagiarism. With almost no exceptions, they thought the uproar was much ado about nothing. Don’t take my word for it, though. Watch here.
A typical reaction came from Jennifer Beckom, a convention delegate from Texas. To her mind, anyone calling for the condemnation of whoever swiped the words thinks that the First Lady has “an exclusive ownership to the way she was raised.” Beckom thought that many of us have had the “exact same moments with our parents” that Michelle did. Uh huh. But would we say the exact same things that Michelle said?
Businessman Keith Kokal didn’t think it was any surprise that Michelle and Melania expressed the same views, since they’re both moms. He admits that he likes to “quote famous quotes,” and suspects that’s what happened to Melania. Um, Keith? When you quote someone, you’re supposed to give credit to who actually said it.
Tuffy Nicholas, who was running a Trump merchandise stand on the streets of Cleveland, thought it was nothing more than a wife saying good things about her husband. He conceded that they may have been “very similar phrased,” but blew it off as a media attempt to “make a thing” out of something they couldn’t criticize.
The only even mildly critical comment came from retired teacher Donald Lee Thomas. He mused that Trump might need to find a new speechwriter. However, he fell down when he claimed that since the swiped portions hadn’t been copied “word-for-word,” it wasn’t plagiarism. Apparently Thomas forgot that when you take someone’s ideas and try to disguise them in your own voice, it’s still plagiarism. I shudder to think what he taught his kids back in the day.
If I’d peddled any of these excuses during my high school days, my teachers would have laughed at me first before giving me an F. And if I’d done so during my college days, I would have automatically flunked the course and faced at least a one-semester suspension. From where I’m sitting, this video is a very sad commentary on the state of our educational system. How in the world would any school worth its salt not drill into students’ heads that plagiarism is flat-out wrong?
To give you an idea of how out of touch these sentiments were, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski–who isn’t exactly a model of integrity himself–let it be known that whoever swiped the words should resign. Watch here.
Lewandowski also said that campaign chairman Paul Manafort should “do the right thing and resign” if he signed off on Melania’s speech. He argued that even if Manafort didn’t sign off on it, a very senior official on the campaign almost certainly did–and that person should either resign or be fired.
Eventually, Meredith McIver, a longtime staff writer for Trump, confessed that she’d swiped the words. In a statement, McIver said that Melania had read passages from Michelle’s 2008 speech over the phone as a suggestion for the kind of tone she wanted in her own speech. She admitted putting some of the phrasing into Melania’s speech without checking Michelle’s speech first. McIver offered an unreserved apology, and also offered to resign. However, the Trumps must have watched their supporters say it was no big deal, because they insisted that she stay on.
In most of the reality-based world, plagiarism is the kiss of death. In Trumpland, you get a second chance. That says a lot about the kind of president the Donald would be, doesn’t it?
(featured image courtesy Marc Nozell, available under a Creative Commons-BY license)
