An aide for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Wednesday she took responsibility for copying portions of First Lady Michelle Obama’s 2008 address for Melania Trump’s convention speech on Monday.
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McIver said she wrote down the passages and later included them in the speech. Over the phone she read me some pages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples.
Mrs Trump’s address was otherwise distinct from the speech that Mrs. Obama gave when her husband was being nominated for president. “No harm was meant”, the statement said.
Meredith McIver offered her resignation, but Trump rejected it, reported the Associated Press.
On Tuesday night at the convention, Mr Trump’s children delivered speeches about their father, the family man.
“I apologize for the confusion and hysteria my mistake has caused”, she wrote.
Noble said that, if the campaign tries to represent McIver’s speech writing as volunteer work, it would not match up with the explanation given Wednesday.
The Trump campaign has announced no speechwriter firings, but the incident has set off a fresh round of infighting between loyalists in Cleveland.
Despite the unmistakable similarities to remarks given by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention, the Trump campaign initially denied any wrongdoing, then made a tacit admission before attempting to insulate Melania, adding to a picture of a campaign in chaos.
She concluded by saying she chose to release a statement to the media because she did not want the issue to continue to distract from the Trump campaign. Trump called Pence his “partner” but left no doubt in a rambling speech that Pence’s role will be as sidekick to the billionaire businessman at the top of the ticket.
SAY WHAT? What will Donald Trump say as he accepts the nomination?
“Every one of us has an obligation to follow our conscience, to speak the truth, and truth is unchanging”, he said in the speech, throwing a bone to his supporters who continue to oppose the nominee.
“As this election approaches, every American should know that while we’re filling the presidency for four years, this election will fill the Supreme Court for the next 40”, he said.
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Yesterday, the New York Times characterized McIver as “a New York City-based former ballet dancer and English major who has worked on some of Mr. Trump’s books”.
