CLEVELAND — Paul Manafort on Tuesday fired back at accusations that Melania Trump plagarized her speech to the Republican National Convention from Michelle Obama, by claiming that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton pushed the story in an effort to “destroy” a woman she felt threatened by.
“The Clinton camp was the first to get out there and try to say that there was something untoward about the speech that Melania Trump gave,” Manafort, who serves as Trump’s campaign chairman, told reporters Tuesday morning.
“It’s just another example as far as we’re concerned where when Hillary Clinton is threatened by a female, the first thing she does is try to destroy the person,” he added. “It’s politics, we recognize it and we’re just going to move on.”
On the day on which the Republican Party is scheduled to formally nominate Trump, the campaign found itself scrambling to respond to plagarism accusations given that a section of Melania Trump’s speech used nearly identical language to a speech that Michelle Obama gave to the Democratic National Convention that nominated then Sen. Barack Obama in 2008.
For instance, Obama said in 2008, “Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them.” And on Monday night, Melania Trump said, “From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect.”
Manafort argued that Melania Trump was expressing values that are shared by a lot of families.
“These are themes that are personal to [Melania], but they’re personal to a lot of people depending on the stories of their lives,” Manafort said. “Obviously, Michelle Obama feels similar sentiments to her family.”
He said, “The fact that the part of [Melania’s] speech that’s being focused on includes 50 words … is totally ignoring the facts of the speech itself. We don’t believe there’s anything in that speech that doesn’t reflect her thinking and we’re comfortable that the words she used were personal to her.”
Manafort also pointed fingers at the media. “The American people focused on what her message was,” he said. “You all are focusing on trying to distort that message in some respects.”
