The Republican National Convention kicked off from Cleveland on Monday night.
And it didn"t take long for this Donald Trump lovefest to generate its first scandal.
From Willie Robertson or Scott Baio? Not really, even though the #NeverTrump crowd likely was not a fan of anything these "celebrities" had to say.
Rather, the first scandal of the week came courtesy of The Donald"s wife, 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," Melania said on stage.
"They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life."
Sounds great and inspiring, right?
The sort of thing a First Lady-to-be would say in such a circumstance?
Melania went on to add:
"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."
Again, good stuff.
But plagiarized stuff?
Critics were quick to note similarities between Trump"s speech here and Michelle Obama"s 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention.
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 even if you don"t agree with them, Obama said eight years ago.
She continued at the time:
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and 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.
Speaking to Matt Lauer on MSNBC prior to the event, Melania said of her upcoming speech:
"I read once over it and that"s all. Because I wrote it with as little help as possible. I"m excited."
This is what Donald Trump said about his wife"s speech on Monday night and what he said in 2008 about that of Michelle Obama:
Was Melania subconsciously influenced by Obama? Did she outright gank her material?
Listen and watch the speech below and decide for yourself.
