Melania Trump's highly anticipated debut on the Republican National Convention stage has landed her in hot water.
The prospective first lady sought to introduce herself and boost husband, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, during her short speech to delegates — and viewers across the country — Monday night. But a section of her speech in which she praises her own parents is now under scrutiny for its similarities to first lady Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech.
Here's a comparison of the paragraphs in question, with similarities highlighted in bold:
Melania Trump's remarks :
"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 taught and showed me values and morals in the 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"
And CNN's transcript of Michelle Obama in 2008:
"And 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; t hat 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 for them."
The potentially plagiarized passages began circulating on Twitter soon after Trump's primetime speech at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena wrapped up.
Melania must’ve liked Michelle Obama’s 2008 Convention speech, since she plagiarized it.#GOPConvention #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/vGmsG9KFx3
— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
CORRECTION: Melania stole a whole graph from Michelle's speech. #GOPConvention
— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) July 19, 2016
WATCH: https://t.co/8BCOwXAHSy pic.twitter.com/zudpDznGng
As The Hill notes, candidates — and their families — often rely on professional speechwriters for help crafting major remarks for conventions. But Melania Trump told NBC's Matt Lauer that she wrote it "with as little help as possible."
The Trump campaign issued the following statement on the speech early Tuesday morning.
"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," Senior Communications Advisor Jason Miller said in a statement. "Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.”
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