Melania Trump's 2016 Republican National Convention address Monday cribbed almost an entire paragraph from the 2008 Democratic National Convention speech by now-First Lady Michelle Obama.
Social media users noted the similarities Monday night, and by Tuesday morning, the controversy was the most discussed about the convention's first tumultuous day.
However, Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort downplayed the obvious plagiarism Tuesday in an interview with CBS This Morning:
But Manafort pushed back on the charges of plagiarism to "CBS This Morning," saying the speech contained "not that many similarities."
"They're a couple of phrases. It's basically three places in the speech and its fragments of words," he said. "She knew what she was doing. And she never cribbed from another speech without acknowledging that she was quoting somebody else."
"We're talking about words like compassion, love of family, respect," Manafort added. "These are not words that are unique words, that belong to the Obamas."
Asked if the speech was vetted by any campaign officials, Manafort said: "Sure, people looked at the speech, but frankly, this was her vision of what she wanted to communicate about her husband."
Melania Trump:
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. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
Michelle Obama:
And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, that 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 even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.