Illinois delegate Christian Gramm, left, and other delegates react as some call for a roll call vote on the adoption of the rules during first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. (AP Photo/John Locher)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday tried to brush off charges of plagiarism and recover quickly from an unforced stumble as he advanced within steps of officially seizing the Republican nomination for president.
Accusations that Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, had lifted portions of her Monday night speech from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention address consumed the conversation on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention.
Trump’s campaign and allies described the controversy as a meaningless distraction, but offered no explanation for why two passages in the speeches — each 30 words or longer — matched nearly word-for-word.
“This is totally blown out of proportion,” Trump adviser Paul Manafort told The Associated Press. “They’re not even sentences. They’re literally phrases. I was impressed somebody did their homework to think that that could be possibly done.”
The dustup came at an inconvenient moment. Barring a last-minute jolt to the proceedings, the New York businessman is hours away from a roll call vote that will make official something the political establishment once deemed impossible. “His quest will finally come to an end,” Manafort said. “It will have happened.”
The campaign had hoped to relish the moment, having quieted persistent worries about its competence and pushed past raucous party divisions. The plagiarism question ensures neither worry will be far behind.
Floor battles
As the convention opened Monday, the Cleveland arena resembled the convention-floor battles of old as aggrieved anti-Trump Republicans protested the adoption by voice vote of rules aimed at quashing an already flailing effort to deny him the prize. Instead of a manicured message of unity, viewers saw the fractured face of a party still coming to grips with the polarizing man of the moment.
But to borrow the parlance of Trump the businessman, the deal should be sealed Tuesday night.
That’s when the roll call of states is to unfold, delivering the delegates to make him the standard-bearer after a rollicking primary season that saw him vanquish 16 rivals. Typically in both parties, the roll call is heavy with ceremonial flourishes, good cheer and puffery about the virtues of each state. This time, it’s also another opportunity for discord to be heard.
Dissident delegates from several states planned to insist on abstaining or backing other candidates, Regina Thomson of Colorado, a leader of a group calling itself Free the Delegates. Their position, she said, is that “I’m not here to be a rubber stamp or a pawn.”
Prime time speeches
On Monday, the floor flight gave way to a lineup of hard-edged, prime-time speeches in which Republicans painted a grim picture of the country’s future and an evener darker view of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Speakers accused Clinton of lying, “putting all of our children’s lives at risk,” and threatening the nation’s security. When delegates chanted “Lock her up!” retired Gen. Michael Flynn responded from the podium: “You’re damn right. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
With a rock-star entrance, Trump changed the tone and introduced his wife, Melania. She traced her own life story, coming to America from Slovenia, and painted a softer, more rounded portrait of her husband than the hard-nosed, insult-throwing candidate voters have seen at every turn. She praised his “simple goodness” and his loyalty to and love of family — while noting the “drama” that comes with Trump in politics.
“If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you, he is the guy,” Mrs. Trump told delegates.
Striking resemblances
Her speech contained several striking resemblances to Michele Obama’s. For example, when she said her parents taught her “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.”
In this combination of photos, Melania Trump, left, wife of Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, speaks during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016, and Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Melania Trump’s well-received speech Monday to the Republican National Convention contained passages that match nearly word-for-word the speech that first lady Michelle Obama delivered in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention. (AP Photos)
Obama, in her 2008 speech, said she was raised to believe that “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.”
Other sections of Mrs. Trump’s Trump speech also tracked closely with Obama’s remarks.
The campaign said Monday night’s speech was written by a “team of writers” who had spoken with Mrs. Trump about her life experiences and included fragments that reflected her thinking. The White House declined to comment Tuesday morning, but was expected to answer questions about the similarities later in the day.
Mrs. Trump’s speech was part of a four-day campaign to show the softer side of the tough-talking showman. On Tuesday night, two of his children will pick up where she left off. Tiffany Trump, his 22-year-old daughter from his marriage to Marla Maples, and Donald Trump Jr., his eldest son and an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, will take the podium.
Former GOP presidents, the home-state governor and other top Republicans have skipped Trump’s convention, but Tuesday’s bill highlights some establishment support.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planned to address the convention along with Sen. Steve Daines, who had earlier planned to go fly-fishing in Montana.
Dominates social media
Accusations that Melania Trump lifted parts of her speech Monday to the Republican National Convention from one Michelle Obama gave eight years ago have become a trending topic on social media under #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes.
Some tweets mocked Mrs. Trump as thanking her speechwriters, “Copy and Paste” and Milli Vanilli, a reference to the R&B duo exposed for lip synching others’ vocals.
Others are more serious. Lori Penrose tweeted, “White privilege is when you steal a black woman’s speech, and just get a slap on the wrist for it.” She tells The Associated Press that Trump needs to apologize.
Trump supporters have responded by accusing President Barack Obama of plagiarism in past speeches.
The Trump campaign calls the accusations “just absurd.”