On Monday at the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump delivered a speech. She delivered a speech that introduced her to the world as the calm, collected, intelligent, elegant and articulate woman that she is. There was just one slight hitch: it seemed as if a small chunk of her speech was taken from Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. This portion of the speech spoke of how she and her husband were raised with similar values of integrity, passion, and intelligence and that you have to work hard to achieve your dreams. There is no excusing what happened. Part of Michelle Obama’s speech was taken. However, the lines spoken by Melania held broad ideas, touched by countless politicians, businessmen and more. This idea of working hard and being held by your word is not new. Michelle Obama was not the first or last person to utter those words.
There is a larger issue at hand if the blunder of a few speechwriters is being covered more than the rest of the Republican National Convention and getting more media attention than various other, much more important issues. The fact that people are so tied up in the fact that Melania’s speech mimicked Michelle’s shows how people value drama and social media over true politics and political ideals. Why not talk about Hillary’s e-mail scandal? Or Benghazi? Or even Trump University? The fact that thousands of people are brutally attacking this graceful woman for a simple mistake is purely ridiculous. People are going as far as to label this as an example of white privilege, which is also totally ludicrous. She is getting unreasonably attacked for the mistake of speechwriters. She did not deviate from the teleprompter. She followed what she was supposed to say and did her part. This is also NOT the first time someone in the political arena (not that she is even a politician) has plagiarized.
On February 16, 2008, in Wisconsin, Barack Obama gave a speech addressing an accusation from Hillary Clinton that all he had to offer was “just words.” He then went on to quote some highly important documents and speeches and asked if those were “just words.” This speech exactly mirrored a speech given by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. In fact, the clips of these speeches are even more similar than Melania’s and Michelle’s. The majority of Melania’s speech was not plagiarized or mirrored anyone else’s words. Her beautifully delivered speech introduced her to the world as a woman who would make an excellent first lady, desiring to focus on women and children who are in need, as well as education. She spoke about how she is proud to be an American, as she became a citizen several years ago. She pledged that she and her husband would do everything possible to help unite this divided world and country, pledging that there is no one more capable of wielding a strong hand and ending global division. Now I don’t know if Mr. Trump himself would make a great president, but I do know that Melania Trump would make an excellent first lady.
This blunder should not impact anyone’s vote, but rather the trustworthiness and actions of the candidates should. The policies and plans of the candidates should. The American public should choose the leader they believe to be fit to rule this great country. A leader strong enough to address domestic and international issues effectively. A leader who will not blatantly lie to the public and will protect the peoples’ best interests rather than their own.
