'My Little Pony' Among Creative Plagiarism Defenses for Melania Trump
Melania Trump has been accused of lifting portions of her RNC speech.
— -- Supporters of Melania Trump have come up with quite a variety of defenses after allegations that she plagiarized portions of the speech she delivered Monday evening on the first night of the Republican National Convention.
Parts of her speech bear striking similarities to a speech that Michelle Obama gave at the Democratic National Convention eight years ago, and hundreds of thousands of people on social media have used the satirical hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes — filled with famous quotes by other people sarcastically attributed to her — to throw shade at Trump.
But it appears some of Trump's supporters aren't amused, and they've been speaking out in her defense.
Here are some of their most interesting arguments:
Even Twilight Sparkle From 'My Little Pony' Has Said Things Similar to Melania Trump and Michelle Obama
RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer compared the offending portion of Melania Trump's speech and Michelle Obama's speech with a quote by Twilight Sparkle from "My Little Pony" to make a point while talking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer earlier today.
"Melania Trump said, 'The strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them,' [and] Twilight Sparkle from 'My Little Pony' said, 'This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dreams you can do now,’" Spicer said. "I mean, if we want to take a bunch of phrases and run them through Google and say, 'Hey, who else has said them?' I could come up with a list in five minutes. And that’s what this is."
When Blitzer commented that there were "pretty stark" similarities between Trump's and Obama's speech, Spicer responded, "I just quoted Twilight Sparkle from 'My Little Pony.' She said something similar too, so did Mrs. Obama plagiarize her too?"
Before quoting Twilight Sparkle, which led "My Little Pony" to start trending on Twitter, Spicer also pointed out similarities between a fragment from Trump's speech and quotes by musicians John Legend and Kid Rock.
It's Hillary Clinton's Fault
Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, dismissed criticism of Melania Trump's speech today and claimed that Hillary Clinton's campaign was to blame.
When "Hillary Clinton is threatened by a female, the first thing she does is try to destroy that person," Manafort said at a news conference Tuesday.
The attack on Clinton prompted a swift response from from her campaign.
"Nice try, not true. @PaulManafort, blaming Hillary Clinton isn't the answer for ever Trump campaign problem," tweeted Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director.
Michelle Obama Didn't Invent the English Language
Donald Trump's national campaign spokeswoman, Katrina Pierson, told The Hill today that the similarities between Melania Trump's speech and Obama's speech were "absolutely not" intentional.
"This concept that Michelle Obama invented the English language is absurd," Pierson said. "Look at the remarks from Laura Bush in 2004. I think you'll find something similar."
She added that the values Trump discussed in her speech were "Republican values, by the way."
This Is Just Proof Democrats and Republicans Share the Same Values
Speaking of values: Ben Carson told reporters today he thought the similarities between Trump's and Obama's speech showed that Republicans and Democrats "share the same values."
"If Melania’s speech is similar to Michelle Obama’s speech, that should make us all very happy," he said. "If we happen to share values, we should celebrate that, not try to make it into a controversy."
Melania Trump's Speech Was Still 93 Percent Different From Michelle Obama's
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told NBC's "Today" show that Melania Trump could not have plagiarized Michelle Obama, since "93 percent of the speech is completely different."
He added that Trump "worked very hard on that speech" and that a lot of what he heard "sounded very much like her."
'Fragments of Words' Similar to Obama's Speech Still Reflect Melania Trump's 'Own Thinking'
Manafort told CBS today that Melania Trump only used "fragments of words" similar to those used in Obama's speech.
Donald Trump's campaign later said in a statement, "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking."