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Melania’s speech raises questions

Melania Trump waves after speaking during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Melania Trump waves after speaking during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

CLEVELAND – The Trump campaign on Tuesday dismissed criticism that Melania Trump directly lifted two passages nearly word-for-word from the speech that first lady Michelle Obama delivered in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention, calling the complaints “just absurd.”

Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort insisted no mistakes had been made with the speech and said the issue was “totally blown out of proportion.”

“There were a few words on it, but they’re not words that were unique words,” he told The Associated Press. “Ninety-nine percent of that speech talked about her being an immigrant and love of country and love of family and everything else.”

Mrs. Trump’s star turn at the Republican National Convention Monday night captivated a GOP crowd that had rarely heard from the wife of Donald Trump. The passages in question focused on lessons that Trump’s wife says she learned from her parents and the relevance of their lessons in her experience as a mother/Associated Press. More here.



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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