CNN’s Maeve Reston reports that the staffer who helped Melania Trump write her plagiarized speech has offered her resignation.
Meredith McIver, who has also helped Trump write his books, offered her resignation, which Donald Trump did not accept.
Reston read McIver’s statement on air. The statement said that McIver and Melania discussed people who inspired Melania, including First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down, and later included some of the phrasing in the drafts that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake and i feel terrible for the chaos I have caused melania and the trumps as well as Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.”
McIver also wrote that yesterday, “I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family but they rejected it. Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and we learn and grow from these experiences.”
McIver’s statement conflicts with the campaign’s own statements. Paul Manafort said hours ago, “As far as we’re concerned, the speech is Melania’s speech.”
Minutes before McIver’s statement was released, Trump tweeted blasting the media for focusing on the plagiarism in Melania’s speech.
The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania’s speech than the FBI spent on Hillary’s emails.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016
Last night, former Romney adviser Stuart Stevens noted that speeches are typically checked for plagiarism.
Guys, somebody – a bunch of people, actually – should be scrubbing these speeches. It’s sort of basic.
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 20, 2016
