CLEVELAND (Diya TV) — Donald Trump’s campaign said Tuesday it doesn’t plan to fire anyone or take any disciplinary action over the controversy surrounding his wife Melania’s speech on Monday evening, which had many similarities from a speech First Lady Michelle Obama gave in 2008. Scores of critics have accused Mrs. Trump of plagiarism in the aftermath.
The campaign hopes to just simply move on without addressing the matter again in the future. The speech set off infighting and finger-pointing within Trump’s campaign, sources have revealed to Diya TV, adding that Donald Trump himself has become furious over the episode.
Trump aides have attributed the post-speech drama to media bias and have blamed Hillary Clinton’s campaign — this despite the fact the apparent plagiarism was uncovered by an independent journalist and had gone viral before the presumptive Democratic nominee had an opportunity to share her opinion.
Campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied the allegations of plagiarism.
“To think that she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd,” Manafort said.
“There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama’s speech. These were common words and values. She cares about her family,” Manafort said. “To think that she’d be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy.” He added, “This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down.”
Speaking to reporters in Cleveland later, Manafort said “there’s a political tint” to the allegations of plagiarism, accusing the Clinton campaign of being the first to spread them without offering any evidence.
On Twitter, a senior Clinton adviser, Jennifer Palmieri, denied that the campaign played a role in spreading the plagiarism allegations.
Nice try, not true. @PaulManafort, blaming Hillary Clinton isn't the answer for ever Trump campaign problem. https://t.co/RvZ5GKeDYd
— Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) July 19, 2016
Tuesday RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer invoked “My Little Pony” in Melania’s defense.
RNC official cites "My Little Pony" in his defense of Melania Trump's #GOPConvention speech https://t.co/kZtmpPz9Ys https://t.co/EM1Zx7ncUe
— CNN (@CNN) July 19, 2016