RNC Convention So Far: Claims of Plagiarism and Official Vote

Yesterday, the 2016 Republican National Convention kicked off at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The first night was full of speeches centering on the theme of 'Make America Safe Again". Specifically, the speeches brought up controversial issues such as illegal immigration, naming radical Islamic terrorists, stressing #BlueLivesMatter, and attacking Clinton's actions around Benghazi.

However, the speech that has captured the attention of social media was one given by Melania Trump, Donald Trump's wife. Remember when you learned about plagiarism in school and that it is wrong to steal someone else's words and ideas and use them as your own? It seems that Melania Trump may need a lesson in plagiarism as social media has shown evidence that Melania plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech in 2008. 

Photo by Marc Nozell (Creative Commons license)

So what exactly did Melania say that drew criticism of plagiarism? Read this article by USA Today to see the section causing debate.  But basically here are the phrases: "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"; "The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them".

I watched Melania Trump's speech last night and upon seeing my Twitter feed this morning, I watched Michelle Obama's 2008 speech as well. As a student, I can see that if both speeches were handed in for an assignment, Melania Trump would have committed plagiarism. It is true that a few of the words were changed, but just because two or three words are altered does not mean the speech is free from plagiarism.

Photo by Glen Baker (Creative Commons license)

What did Trump's team have to say? CNN reports that "Donald Trump's presidential campaign doesn't plan to fire anybody or take disciplinary action over the controversy surrounding Melania Trump's plagiarism of Michelle Obama." Read that article here. In addition, CNN reports that Paul Manafort, Trump's Convention Manager, claims that "the words Melania used were not 'cribbed' but are common words." So what should have been a great speech capping off the first night at the 2016 RNC turned out to be a debate on plagiarism. Good job, GOP.

Now briefly onto early evening of night two.  Just recently, each state delegation voted by roll call for their nominee as the GOP 2016 presidential candidate. As reported by ABC (read that article here), the number of votes Trump needed was 1,237, a number he was expected to pass. And as it turns out, C-SPAN tweeted the final votes and shows that Trump received 1,725 votes, thus becoming the GOP nominee. Notably however, Henry J. Gomez, chief political reporter for cleveland.com tweeted that all 66 delegates of Ohio voted for Kasich and D.C. tried to give 10 votes to Rubio and 9 to Kasich, but were overruled and all 19 went to Trump. On Thursday, Donald Trump will officially accept the presidential nomination during his speech.

Wow! So much action in  just two nights, but the 2016 RNC is not yet over. So readers, tune in nightly to see the headlining speeches and closely follow your Twitter feed to see various reactions to the convention.