Osea, Katrina Alesandra 07-09-19

11-St. James

​The Melania Trump Plagiarism Scandal

Shortly after Melania Trump, the wife of Republican Presidential Candidate Donald
Trump finished her speech at the Republication National Convention, she began to face
allegations of plagiarism.

Specifically, there were allegations that her speech borrowed several passages from a
similar 2008 speech by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention. In
addition to several dozen copied words, two paragraphs closely mirrored one another in
theme, structure and ideas.
However, this isn’t the first time that a major political figure has been accused of
plagiarism in a speech. In 2008, now-President Obama was accused of plagiarism as
was his opponent, John McCain. In 1987, then-candidate dropped out of the Presidential
race due plagiarism allegations as did Senator John Walsh in his Senate campaign in
2014.

But one thing that all of these cases do have in common is that none of them saw any
drastic change due to the allegations of plagiarism.

While Walsh and Biden both dropped out after their scandals, both were already
significantly behind in the polls and struggling. Odds were that both would have either
dropped out or simply lost without the plagiarism allegations.

The battle between Obama and McCain unfolded almost exactly as it would without the
allegations of plagiarism. Even the selection of Biden for Vice President didn’t cause a
change in the polls, despite the fact he was accused of plagiarism yet again.

In the United States, political plagiarism scandals are, more often than not, merely
distractions. They can overtake the news cycle for a few days, but rarely make any kind
of a lasting impact on the election as a whole.

Some of this is likely due to our lengthy election cycle, which lasts well over a year, and
the fast-moving news cycle that causes stories to rise up with great intensity, but quickly
be pushed aside for the next one.

Considering all of the various scandals and stories that will dominate the news over the
next few months, it’s easy to see why a plagiarism scandal might not have a great deal
of lasting impact.
Still, one thing we’ve learned previously is that the timing of the story is often crucial. In
the case of Senator Walsh, opponents leaked the allegations to the press at the most
opportune time, effectively ending Walsh’s chances.

While the Melania Trump story is by no means the end to the Trump candidacy, it comes
at an inopportune time as well. Conventions are meant to be a time where candidates
bask in wall-to-wall media coverage and most bank on getting a bump from their
convention.

Instead, much of the convention news cycle was dominated by the Melania Trump story.
Even as Trump himself accepted the party’s nomination, the Melania Trump story was
still at the forefront of many people’s minds and on the pages of many publications.

While this doesn’t appear to have hurt Trump’s post-convention bump, it is easy to see
how it could have.

But, in the end, when plagiarism and politics mix in the United States, it’s usually a
short-lived affair. Most likely, by November when Americans head to the polls, the story
will be long forgotten.

Still, this doesn’t mean that campaigns should be ambivalent about plagiarism either.
Plagiarism is a distraction that can be easily avoided and it’s a political unforced error.

It may not be a political landmine, but it’s still major speed bump and one that is easily
avoided with enough care and effort.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, Jonathan Bailey of
Plagiarism Today, and do not reflect the opinions of iThenticate.

Reference:
http://www.ithenticate.com/plagiarism-detection-blog/the-top-10-plagiarism-stories-of-201
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