The week after Melania Trump’s Republican National Convention speech drew plagiarism criticism over passages that resembled Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention remarks, the Trump family found itself in another speech debate. This time, Donald Trump Jr. made the claim.
After President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, Trump Jr. tweeted that he was honored the president would use a line from his own RNC speech the week before, and he asked, “Where’s the outrage?” The phrase in question was a variation of “That’s not the America I know.”
Critics were quick to point out that the phrase is a common one in American politics and that President Obama has used similar wording in earlier speeches. Others noted that other political figures have used versions of it over the years, so it is hard to credit it to any one speaker.
The back and forth comes as both campaigns keep a close eye on every word from the other side. Melania Trump has said she wrote her speech with as little help as possible, while the Trump campaign has maintained that the passages in question were not copied on purpose.
What do you think? Is the phrase fair game for everyone, or does a speech line belong to the person who said it first?
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