Word for word: Melania Trump echoes Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech (VIDEO)

19 Jul, 2016 07:14 / Updated 5 years ago

After Melania Trump’s headline speech at the Republican National Convention, many noticed that what the billionaire's wife said seemed familiar, something they’d heard somewhere in the past. Or had they?

Yes, it was Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech.

So, did Mrs. Trump lift an entire paragraph from the current first lady, almost word for word? Well, take a listen.

Following the discovery, social media erupted, with users expressing their outrage or joking under the hashtags #MelaniaTrump and #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes.

What makes things worse for the would-be first lady, is that before the speech, she told NBC’s Matt Lauer, “I wrote it… with as little help as possible.”

Trump’s campaign didn’t hesitate to issue a statement regarding the speech, saying it doesn’t view it as plagiarized. 

Melania also borrowed a bit from Rick Astley, leading sharp-eared listeners to realize they’d been “rickrolled” after she said that her husband “will never, ever give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.” Melania’s words are remarkably similar to Astley’s 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.