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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFallout from Melania Trump plagiarism scandal continues (new)
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20160721-fallout-from-melania-trump-plagiarism-scandal-continues.eceCLEVELAND -- Fallout from Melania Trumps plagiarism debacle continued Thursday as Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort tried, again, to clarify the campaigns inconsistent statements on the matter.
"None of us knew" that Meredith McIver, the woman who has since admitted to lifting parts of a speech by First Lady Michelle Obama for Trumps prime-time address, was even involved in the process, Manafort said Thursday, the final day of the Republican National Convention.
(snip)
Manafort said he refuted the plagiarism charges earlier this week based on conversations he had with Melania Trump and speechwriters."
I asked Melania Trump what the story was about and she insisted, and I believed her, that these were her words, he said, later adding: When the first lady tells me they didnt do it, and the speechwriters say they didnt do it, as far as Im concerned they didnt do it.
Manafort erroneously referred to McIver as McIntyre multiple times during his remarks, saying: I did not know about the role of Ms. McIntyre. When she came forward, we immediately put forward the statement.
(end snip)
There are so many things here, first he refers to Melania as the first lady - she ain't yet asswipe. Second, he doesn't know McIvers name.
But still no definitive proof the ghostly Ms. McIver exists. Or McIntyre, or Ms. Baron.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Fucking piece of shit bastard he is.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)eissa
(4,238 posts)It's about an unstable person who has a pattern of creating fake characters. This is not normal behavior.
trotsky
(49,533 posts)lapucelle
(18,319 posts)needs to check with the George Balanchine's School of American Ballet to see if she really attended. (Balanchine is spelled wrong on the everipedia page.)
The everipedia page also says she's friends with John Barron and John Miller (aliases Trump has used), so some rogue editor has a sense of humor.
http://www.everipedia.com/meredith-mciver/
stopbush
(24,396 posts)Really?
GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)supposedly.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,198 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,020 posts)Especially nasty Manafort and his dumbass candidate
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)Maybe it's worth a chuckle, but it's nothing new. Obama was accused of plagerizing Bill Clinton for talking about "hope."
Most of the time, along with the raw meat for their constituents, they are all trrying to send similar messages to the same voters thought to be persuadable. And, a universal Work hard, play by the rules, and America is great message. It should be no surprise when someone inexperienced with national campaigns lifts some parts of a speech from another speaker. Particularly if they have been doing it all along during the local primary campaign and haven't been caught (i am guessing that is likely).
The real problem with this to me is the inexperienced inept campaign combined with an idiotic defense and transparent response. This is a problem for republicans more than anything because they have an embarrassing and clueless candidate and campaign. Attacking Malania over and over ignores the real issue which is a campaign that reflects the fools running it and by extension the candidate himself.
eissa
(4,238 posts)The fact that his brainless wife copied a speech is not the issue. It's that he made-up a fake speechwriter to take the fall. The phony aliases have been a pattern with him, and it's unnerving. This is not something normal people do.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)And all they knew was that Melani used some sentences and that she isn't from this country. Ugh. I gave them the scoop. They were surprised it was that involved. You would be shocked by the number of Americans who really are out of touch with day to day politics. I was a bit surprised with these 3 because they are educated all 3 school teachers.
eissa
(4,238 posts)That most people aren't really paying attention to all this, and it's just us political junkies that are seeing all these exploding red flags everywhere. Hopefully these people will wake up before November.
mahina
(17,696 posts)The plagiarism is evidence that these people are frauds and liars.
Wednesdays
(17,408 posts)Move along.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)and call Dems liars. They are the ones making this an issue we cannot ignore.
And, the response forced out the speechwriter, who then supplies enough evidence to convict Trump of about five criminal campaign finance law violations. Thanks everyone who contributed to the uproarious fire back.
yardwork
(61,703 posts)Democrats have a very bad habit of letting go of things that the opposition does.
yardwork
(61,703 posts)Does Meredith McIver exist? If not, this is a really, really big story.
malaise
(269,157 posts)This is not going away
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)And she is now lawyered up to the hilt, no doubt.
And at Dick Cheney's undisclosed location (his ranch)
tableturner
(1,684 posts)Even IF McIver is real, it is NOT exculpatory for Melania, and she would STILL be guilty of knowingly plagiarizing:
1.Melania sends to the writer exact verbiage from Michelles speech, and knows it is Michelle's
2.Writer sends back speech with the verbiage intact
3.Melania sees this verbiage intact
4.Again, Melania knows the verbiage is Michelles
5.In the end, she uses it anyway, KNOWING IT IS MICHELLE'S
6.Trump campaign admits that the verbiage put in by McIver came from Melania via Michelles speech
7.Trump campaign says it is the McIvers fault it was in Melanias speech
8.That is an obvious lie since Melania knew it was Michelles verbiage in the first place, saw it again in McIvers speech she received, and then used that verbiage anyway, knowing it was Michelles verbiage
9.Melania herself is an absolute, purposeful plagiarizer
10.Melania shows a pattern of dishonesty via the speech and with Melania's AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGNS REPEATED PURPOSEFUL LIES ABOUT HER DEGREE
11.The GOP, which goes ballistic on anything it can to bash either Obama even with regard to well meant ideas, would go BEYOND super ballistic if Michelle did this, but thinks it can excuse Melania on the plagiarism
12.They are lying, fraudulent, hypocrites, which is nothing we did not already know
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)1.) They claim she read the text over the phone, no paper trail admitted.
7.) McIver says is is her fault.
McIver doesn't work for the campaign, she works for Trump corporate, Trump himself. That makes it a crime and Trump's crime if he knew and this was a willful arrangement.
Trump needs to lawyer up and remain silent.
wheniwasincongress
(1,307 posts)According to McIver, Melania read her parts of Michelle's speech to her over the phone, so wouldn't Melania recognize those same passages in the written speech that McIver eventually provided her?
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Just because her name is on some books doesn't mean she's a real person.
Could be like the fat kid in the movie, Moneyball: a composite character.
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)Last edited Thu Oct 27, 2016, 06:14 PM - Edit history (1)
But as mentioned upthread, she works for the Trump organization, not the campaign, and for Trump, not his wife.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/guys-please-this-convention-is-crazy-enough-without-meredith
rocktivity
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Plenty of details in this compilation thread in GD 2016:
Writer of Melania Trump's "First Lady" Speech Says Melania Lied.
You missed the big news, Trump may face criminal charges. Follow link above for details.
yardwork
(61,703 posts)Piers Morgan's tweet that he knows her is not proof.
Is she willing to be interviewed?
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)associates are out there. What do you think happened? Did Trump go back in time to create her?
Let's not turn this place into CT central by trying to sell a bill of goods that Trump would sell a fake person for an attempted cover-up with a fake letter that solidly evidenced his wife lied. Just accept that they inadvertently admitted to campaign finance law violations and invest in popcorn futures.
George II
(67,782 posts)L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,906 posts)TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A hare-brained scheme executed by a bunch of narcissistic asshats.
George II
(67,782 posts)I asked Melania Trump what the story was about and she insisted, and I believed her, that these were her words.
If that were Bill or Hillary Clinton Jason Chafitz would already have a Congressional hearing scheduled for next week and issued subpoenas to have Hillary appear.
Leontius
(2,270 posts)rocktivity
(44,577 posts)because it says that the Trump camp has a mole rat infestation -- and I am NOT referring to the rodent.
rocktviity
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Not to mention these are the very people who want to "burn the witch" and justify their madness because they claim she lied. This goes to the foundation of their attacks, it is very relevant and it completely destroys their credibility.
63splitwindow
(2,657 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I suppose that's progress of a sort, like when the lying little brat from down the street stops blaming his imaginary friend for throwing that rock through your window. These are allegedly grown people flailing around like this. How pathetic do they have to get before the popular media just quit believing every stupid thing that falls out of Manafort's mouth?
keithbvadu2
(36,906 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)she said that Melania gave her the extra statements to include in the speech. So Manafort is still not getting the story straight.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)SunSeeker
(51,697 posts)L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Published: 21 July 2016 10:13 AM so they have no excuse for not telling the whole story.
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)Last edited Tue Dec 26, 2017, 03:23 PM - Edit history (1)
In working with Melania Trump on her recent First Lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michele Obama.
How ironic that is there is now a question as to whether McIver should have written the speech since she's an employee of the Trump organization rather than the Trump campaign. But it's been raised as a legality -- it needs to be raised for a practical reason as well.
How does this appall me? Let me count the ways -- starting with the most obvious one.
With the sole exception of Hillary Clinton and her spouse, Barack Obama and his spouse are supposed to be the greatest natural enemies of Donald Trump and his spouse. I'm certainly not saying that Melania SHOULDN'T like or admire Michelle, and perhaps it's possible to embrace people without embracing their political stances. But as a candidate for First Lady, Melania is now on Republican presidential campaign "company time" where it should be a matter of instinct (if not logic) to avoid seeking moral guidance from Democrats -- it is NOT the smartest way to get voted in.
Of course, the reason why we know that Melania likes Michelle is because McIver spelled it out in her statement. As satisfying as it would be to place all the blame on McIver (especially since she's described as a registered Democrat), you do have to give her the benefit of the doubt (especially since she is NOT described as Trump campaign worker). Still, if Melania was incapable of seeing that she should not be using Michelle Obama as a role model even with her words rewritten, is it wrong to wonder why McIver, given her professional ghostwriting background, didn't see a red flag?
Of course, this all hinges on whether or not the statement is actually true. According to Trump's campaign manager, the speech was the result of "a team of writers" whose choice of words just happened to reflect Michelle's "on occasion." The day after McIver's confession, however, he "asked Melania Trump what the story was about and she insisted, and I believed her, that these were her words...None of us knew (McIver) was even involved in the process. I can buy that -- it makes sense that the Trump campaign writers wouldn't know what the Trump organization writers were doing (which the way it SHOULD be). And it would explain why it took 48 hours to come up with the "right" culprit. But shouldn't Melania and McIver run the draft past the campaign manager anyway?
Duh Donald(TM) will be delivering his convention acceptance speech very shortly, and a copy of it has already been released. I'm willing to bet that the Trump campaign gave it a clean bill of health first!
rocktivity