A Donald Trump employee has taken responsibility for lifting two passages from a Michelle Obama speech for Melania Trump’s address to the Republican National Convention, saying it was an innocent mistake.
Meredith McIver, who has been employed by Trump for a number of years and has worked on projects including his books, was apparently brought into write the speech after Melania Trump discarded two professional speech writers.
She posted an unusual statement on the Trump website to apologise for the “chaos” she had caused as a result of the speech.
“In working with Melania on her recent first lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people,” McIver said.
“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. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.”
Her resignation was offered but rejected by the Trumps who said it was an “innocent mistake”.