Several lines of Melania Trump‘s speech Monday night were lifted from a speech Michelle Obama gave about Barack Obama in 2008.
While many members of the media tried hard to be compassionate for the potential first lady, some viciously went after her. After all, she told NBC TODAY Show host Matt Lauer that she wrote it and had very little help.
“I wrote it with as little help as possible,” she told Lauer.
“This is plagiarism,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Absurdly, CNN contributor and Trump surrogate Kayleigh McEnany said this is the headline the Democrats want for the night. But this isn’t Democrats. It’s fact.
Even Tapper, along with Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer, attempted to give Melania the benefit of the doubt.
“We feel bad for Melania,” declared Blitzer, seemingly speaking for the entire network.
Tapper, speaking through a nasty cough, tried to anticipate what happens next: “The big question is how do you respond to this? I think the impulse is going to be go after the media.”
CNN Contributor Ana Navarro, who has never been fond of Trump, remarked, “It’s going to be a PR tragedy.”
Even Trump surrogate Jeffrey Lord couldn’t find a defense. “This is a serious thing….clearly whoever did this I think shouldn’t be there.” Still, he reasoned, “This is not Benghazi.”
Navarro chimed in, “Donald Trump needs to do what he does well — he needs to fire someone.”
As irony would have it, Brian Williams led the plagiarism discussion over at MSNBC.
Navarro continued, “She’s so far outside her comfort zone. Let’s cut the woman some slack.”
CNN’s John King also had compassion: “This is not her mistake.”
And Tapper tried to go easy on her.
“We are all human,” he said. “We all make mistakes.”
UPDATE: It’s 2 a.m. and according to CNN “After Dark” the Trump campaign is denying the charge of plagiarism.
UPDATE 2: CNN Political Director Mark Preston: “The bottom line — it’s not a fatal error but really is going to ruin what was a good first night for Trump.” Political commentator and talk show host Andy Dean: “My advice? Ignore it and blame the media completely.”
