Part of Melania Trump’s speech to the Republican convention appears to have been plagiarised

DONALD Trump’s campaign is defiantly denying accusations of plagiarism in his wife’s convention speech, as one big question remains unanswered.

DONALD Trump’s campaign is defiantly denying accusations that Melania Trump’s speech to the Republican National Convention was partially plagiarised.

Meanwhile, one big question remains unanswered - who actually wrote the speech?

As journalist Jarrett Hill first reported, Mrs Trump’s address was strikingly similar to one the current US First Lady, Michelle Obama, delivered at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. Parts of it appeared to have been copied word for word.

Melania Trump waves at the convention.

You can judge for yourself. Here are the two passages in question, courtesy of the official transcripts. First, from Mrs Trump’s speech:

“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. Show the values and morals in the daily life. That is the lesson that we continue to pass on to our son. We need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow, because we want our children in these nations to know that the only limit to your achievement is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

You can listen to it from the 4:42 mark in this video.

And here’s the corresponding paragraph from Mrs Obama’s speech eight years ago:

“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. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and 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 for them.”

The relevant part is at 4:40 in this video.

Despite the evidence, Trump’s campaign team is publicly standing firm behind Mrs Trump.

“There was no cribbing of Michelle Obama’s speech,” campaign chairman Paul Manafort said in an interview with CNN overnight.

“These are common words and values that Melania cares about. Her family, things like that. She was speaking in front of 35 million people last night, Melania knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy.

“Obviously Michelle Obama feels very similar sentiments towards her family.

“This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, she seeks to demean her and take her down.”

Melania Trump, the wife of Republican candidate Donald Trump.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of Trump’s most prominent supporters, was singing from a similar songsheet when he spoke to CNN later. He did acknowledge some of the similarities between the two speeches, but denied it was plagiarism.

“Nah, not when 93 per cent of the speech is completely different,” Christie said. “We’re talking about seven per cent of a speech.

“I know her. There is no way that Melania Trump was plagiarising Michelle Obama’s speech.

“I think if you look at plagiarism, and I remember this from back in school, you’re talking about much broader than what we saw last night, of people who are copying and lifting from speeches.”

Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech sounded awfully similar.

There’s one question still hanging over the controversy - who wrote Mrs Trump’s speech? Everyone is giving a different answer.

Mrs Trump herself told NBC she had only given the speech a “once over” before delivering it yesterday because she “wrote it with as little help as possible”.

That makes it sound like Mrs Trump wrote the bulk of the speech herself. But an official statement from the campaign seemed to contradict her, shifting the blame for the apparent plagiarism onto unnamed speechwriters.

“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,” the statement read. It was backed up by campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis, who spoke to MSNBC.

“I’m sure what happened is the person who was helping write this plucked something in there, and probably an unfortunate oversight, and certainly Melania didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Citing two unnamed sources, the New York Times reports a contract speechwriter called Matthew Scully wrote an early draft of the speech, which Mrs Trump then changed substantially with help from someone working at the Trump Organisation.

Melania Trump waves after speaking at the convention.

Mr Trump’s political opponents have mostly remained silent amid the growing scandal, although Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter couldn’t resist having a dig.

“She lifted from a First Lady who spoke from the heart about her husband,” Ms Cutter said. “Why can’t Melania speak from the heart about hers? It really says something.”

So that's pretty blatant, right? pic.twitter.com/EPnHME7afV

— Mike Hearn (@mikehearn) July 19, 2016

The Trump campaign was already under fire for shambolic scheduling on day one of the Republican convention in Cleveland. The last speech of the night started at 11pm, long after Mrs Trump had left the building - and long after the end of primetime, when millions of Americans would have been watching.

A bunch of headline speakers, from Senator Joni Ernst to retired Lt General Michael Flynn, were forced to talk in front of a virtually empty arena as most of the crowd had already left.

More speakers to come and at least half the rows is gone. Poor Joni Ernst. Sad! pic.twitter.com/53cdzjthJl

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 19, 2016

I mean. pic.twitter.com/brn0MlDK5P

— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) July 19, 2016

Not a good look.

Mrs Trump’s speech was supposed to be the highlight of the night, and until that suspicious similarity to Mrs Obama’s address was discovered, it was. Unlike everyone else who took the stage, Mrs Trump refrained from attacking Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, instead choosing to emphasise her husband’s good qualities.

“I’m definitely biased, and for good reason,” she said.

“There is a great deal of love in the Trump family. That is our bond and that is our strength.” Mrs Trump described her husband as a kind man who cares about people, no matter their background.

“That kindness has always been there,” she said. “It is one reason I fell in love with him to begin with.”

The candidate himself appeared at the convention early to introduce Mrs Trump.

Mrs Trump said she planned to focus on children’s education as First Lady, while Mr Trump would never stop fighting for “all of the people, not just some of the people. That includes Christians, and Jews, and Asians, and Hispanics, and the poor and the middle class”.

“Let’s all come together in a national campaign like no other. The race will be hard fought all the way till November,” she said.

“It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama. But my husband will be focused on only one thing, this beautiful country that he loves so much.

“My husband is ready to lead this great nation, he is ready to fight every day to give our children the bright future that they deserve.”

It was truly an honor to introduce my wife, Melania. Her speech and demeanor were absolutely incredible. Very proud! #GOPConvention

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2016