A member of Team Trump has taken the blame for Melania Trump’s speech to the Republican National Convention. The Monday speech drew allegations of plagiarism. Trump staffer Meredith McIver has apologized and offered to resign. Donald Trump has refused to accept her resignation.
Meredith McIver is an in-house staff writer with the Trump organization. She released a statement on Wednesday morning accepting blame for the address. The speech has been under fire for its resemblance to an address delivered by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
McIver said in a statement:
“My name is Meredith McIver and I’m an in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization. Yesterday, I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family, but they rejected it.”
“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 Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.”
McIver also wrote that she did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches and feels “terrible” for the ensuing chaos the cribbed speech generated. “No harm was meant” she wrote.
Initial impressions of Melania’s speech indicated that it was solid and well-received. But allegations of plagiarism soon swirled around the address, all but eclipsing its substance and putting Team Trump on defense.
Donald Trump. Jr. addressed the plagiarism accusations in a interview with CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. It was posted to YouTube on Tuesday:
Is the Melania speech brouhaha a major face-plant for Team Trump, or a minor speed bump? What say you?