Following Melania Trump's speech Monday night at the Republican National Convention, several social media users pointed out a section that was startlingly similar to one the country has heard before — it came from current first lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
It is, of course, common for political speeches to be filled with platitudes like both women used — values, morals, getting what you want in life. But comparing the two speeches, the overlap amounts to more than passing similarity of a few phrases.
The section of Trump's in question is one minute long, and about half of the words in it are the same as Obama's.
The parts that are the same have been bolded by NPR below. The videos begin playing at the comments that are in question.
Melania Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention:
From a young age, 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. They thought and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a 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 --
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 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention:
And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like, you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond; that 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.
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.
In response to press inquiries about the similarities in the two speeches, the senior communications adviser for the Trump campaign, Jason Miller, issued this statement:
In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.
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