Melania Trump delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016. After her appearance at the RNC, many people noticed that her words sound familiar.
People started to point out that there were similarities between the FLOTUS’ address and the one Michelle Obama delivered at the Democratic convention in 2008. The next thing that happened was that she was accused of plagiarism.
The First Lady’s surprising reaction to the allegations
Various media reported about Melania Trump plagiarizing Obama’s speech and they posted the side by side video of the two women for people to compare. Most people agreed that it was indeed a case of plagiarism.
But while the expected reaction from the First Lady is to feel humiliated for the incident, a new book written by Trump’s former adviser and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff claimed that she was not embarrassed at all. In her book titled “Melania And Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady,” rather than feeling mortified, Malania Trump was suspicious that someone was out to destroy her.
"She was suspicious that the plagiarism had been left in on purpose," Wolkoff wrote in her book as per the Business Insider. "Someone in Trump World didn't want Melania to shine. We talked about who that might be. Who stood to gain by making Melania look bad?”
A warning to the First Lady?
Melania Trump’s former adviser went on to say that their conversations were usually guarded, “and she kept it light, as always." Wolkoff added that the First Lady really thinks someone knew that her speech was plagiarized but they still let her deliver it so she will look bad.
"But it seemed to her, and to me, that the plagiarized speech was like drawing first blood between rivals,” Wolkoff further state. “Or was it a warning that Melania should stay in the background?"
In any case, the staff writer who penned the speech, Meredith McIver, took the blame and admitted to copying part of Michelle Obama’s speech. She explained that she lifted some lines and added it to Melania Trump’s speech because she took those lines as the inspiration for what the First Lady wants for her address. The writer offered to resign but the POTUS refused to accept her resignation.