On the same day that the story of Melania Trump’s plagiarized (without question) speech was the talk of cable news and social media and, probably, all of Washington, Donald Trump Jr. took the stage. His speech was very well-received by conservatives and pundits alike. But then this happened:
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 20, 2016
Now, sure, that looks pretty bad. Those are without doubt the same phrases. Could there really be a second night of plagiarism?
Not so fast. Mollie Hemingway was quick with a possible explanation.
Um, guys, FBuck probably wrote the speech. It's like Axelrod writing both "Just Words" speeches for Patrick/Obama. https://t.co/gYWSGrDcJl
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 20, 2016
And there swiftly came what appeared to be confirmation from the author of the article, Frank Buckley.
Except it wasn't stealing…
— Frank Buckley (@fbuckley) July 20, 2016
DANG I’M GOOD. https://t.co/IRXKjFHAVZ
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 20, 2016
And even more detail:
Also, for folks curious about the phrasing, think NDA. And read this for more info: https://t.co/53lJXsJ69B https://t.co/IRXKjFHAVZ
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 20, 2016
It seems like a good enough explanation for me. I don’t care what academia says, you can’t “plagiarize” yourself. The speechwriter liked his turn of phrase and kept it. BUT …
Trump campaign. On the day of the Melania plagiarism thing, don’t you think you could have slightly rephrased the same sentiment? This is the best thing someone with the name Trump has said in pretty much ever. You may think you made the media look foolish, or muddied the water for Melania Trump, but all you really did was remind people that those weren’t all Donald Trump Jr.’s words. Couldn’t you let conservatives be happy with a Trump?
Seriously. Review the rest of the speeches. For Pete’s sake.
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