By Matt Agorist
An embarrassing, yet entirely telling ‘mistake’ was made at the Republican National Convention Monday night. If ever one needs fodder to fuel the flames of the notion of political theater — they needn’t look any further than potential first lady Melania Trump delivering a nearly identical speech to Michelle Obama.
After he watched Melania Trump’s speech last night, journalist Jarrett Hill noticed something peculiar — he’d heard it before.
CORRECTION: Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle’s speech. #GOPConvention
WATCH: https://t.co/8BCOwXAHSy pic.twitter.com/zudpDznGng— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
Perhaps because the speechwriters and the Trumps thought the public was too stupid to catch it, or perhaps, this is simply the modus operandi for all aspiring first ladies — they decided to plagiarize a large section of the current first lady’s speech given at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
Late Monday night, CNN released a video showing both speeches side by side. The result is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Below is the transcript showing the near identical ripoff from the potential first lady’s speech.
Obama: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values…
Trump: My parents impressed on me the values…
Obama: …like: you work hard for what you want in life…
Trump: …that you work hard for what you want in life.
Obama: …that your word is your bond, that you do what you say you’re gonna do…
Trump: …that your word is your bond, and you do what you say…
Obama: …that you treat people with dignity and respect…
Trump: …that you treat people with respect…
Obama: …because we want our children and all children in this nation to know…
Trump: …because we want our children in this nation to know…
Obama: …the only limits on the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams…
Trump: …that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams…
Obama: …and your willingness to work hard for them.
Trump: …and your willingness to work for them.
After his campaign was caught trying to dupe the public, Trump released a vaguely benign non-admission of fault statement.
Trump campaign issues statement: pic.twitter.com/zgfOMmgGr3
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 19, 2016
Hilariously enough, Trump expects people to believe the fact that his wife’s speech was identical to Michelle Obama’s out of sheer coincidence.
If you think this type of copy-and-paste rhetoric is unique to Melania, think again.
Joe Biden did it, too. According to The New York Times, Biden admitted he had plagiarized a law review article for a “paper he wrote in his first year at law school.” The Times said Biden had called the plagiarism a “mistake.”
Biden was not alone either — Obama is also guilty. According to Plagiarism Today, Obama was running against Hillary Clinton in the primary when he gave a speech in Wisconsin that “quoted a series of well-known speeches and documents from U.S. history, including those by Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy as well as the Declaration of Independence and asked if they were ‘Just Words.”
This plagiarism, or rather cookie-cutter speech, should come as no surprise to Americans. Instead, it should simply back up the notion that these people are merely puppets.
When speaking publicly, presidents, first ladies, and the majority of politicians, do little more than serve as passive reverberators for their controlling interests.
The teleprompter ushered in a new era of stringless puppetry and with it came speeches so generic and full of fluff that the incompetent elite can’t fill the screen fast enough without ripping off previous speeches.
Matt Agorist is the co-founder of TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. He is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist.