Update: A Trump staffer has since apologized and offered her resignation, which was refused.
Brilio.net/en - Melania Trump had finally taken center stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention. She had not featured much on the campaign trail, emerging only when her husband became the sole remaining Republican contender.
But her speech has sparked criticism and allegations of plagiarism have trumped its merits, with numerous journalists pointing out the almost word-for-word similarity to what to a portion of Michelle Obamas speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
With the help of a speech-writing team, Melania praised her husband as a compassionate man who would do anything and be willing fight for his country. That part, which appears to be original content, originally grabbed headlines.
Then came the controversy.
Suspiciously similar
In another section, Melania said: "My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect."
Michelle Obama's speech in 2008 contained the lines: "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."
Melania speech continued: "[My parents] taught me to show the values and morals in my daily life. That is the 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."
Michelle Obama said: "And Barack Obama and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generations. Because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievement is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."
You be the judge. In the US, the media consensus is pretty much total - it was plagiarized.
No one exactly knows what happened out there but Melania's team of writers claimed through Donald Trump's campaign team that the speech was inspired by her life. The campaign has since stated that noone would be fired over the issue.
"In writing her beautiful speech, Melanie's team of writers took notes on her life's aspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking." Donald Trump's team said.
The speech, however, was the highlight of a chaotic opening day.
Donald Trump has since been formally nominated.
(brl/red)
