Donald Trump Jr. Speechwriter Cribbed Himself
Passage in speech had similarities to magazine article
A day after Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention was overshadowed by plagiarism allegations , Donald Trump Jr.’s address in Cleveland Tuesday also echoed some previously used language.
But Trump Jr.’s issue is different from Melania’s.
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Special Coverage: 2016 Republican National Convention
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The speech got generally good reviews. But this part caught the attention of “The Daily Show”:
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 20, 2016
In his speech Tuesday, Trump Jr. said, “Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class, now they’re stalled on the ground floor. They’re like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students,” Trump said.
That’s very similar to a two sentences from a recent article in The American Conservative :
“What should be an elevator to the upper class is stalled on the ground floor … Our schools and universities are like the old Soviet department stores whose mission was to serve the interests of the sales clerks and not the customers.”
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Who’s Going to Get Fired Over Melania Trump Speech?
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Others jumped on the story, as the controversy around Melania Trump’s speech was still swirling, alleging another cribbed passage for the second straight night.
But F.H. Buckley, who wrote The American Conservative article, waved them off — he had worked on Trump Jr.’s speech and cribbed himself.
Except it wasn’t stealing…
— Frank Buckley (@fbuckley) July 20, 2016
Trump campaign spokesperson Jason Miller quickly defended the speech and blamed the uproar on, you guessed it, Hillary Clinton:
1/2 Nice try Clinton machine – Francis Buckley is a friend of Don Jr.’s and worked with him on the speech.
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 20, 2016
2/2 Your time would be better spent searching for Crooked Hillary’s missing emails rather than disparaging a real American Patriot.
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 20, 2016
