The media has decided that the alleged Melania Trump plagiarism story is the greatest thing that’s ever happened in American politics.
So as long as we’re on the subject, let’s look back at the last time plagiarism was alleged in a presidential election. It was 2008, and a young Senator from Illinois was fighting Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination.
Obama had been caught lifting lines from his ideological twin, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Clinton called him out for it during a debate.
The New York Times reported:
Debate Takes On Contentious AirSenators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama veered from collegial to clenched and combative in a debate on Thursday, with Mrs. Clinton turning especially aggressive as she all but accused Mr. Obama of plagiarism and derided his political message as “change you can Xerox.”Mr. Obama, buoyed by 11 straight victories in the most recent nominating contests, sought to maintain a positive tone throughout, though at one point he accused Mrs. Clinton of suggesting that his supporters were “delusional” or “being duped” by his themes of hope and unity…In her sharpest attack to date on the originality of his oratory and ideas, Mrs. Clinton cited news reports about Mr. Obama’s nearly verbatim use of remarks first delivered by a close ally, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. She argued that Mr. Obama had drawn great praise for his speeches, and then questioned whether they had been plagiarized.Playing off a trademark line of Mr. Obama’s, she said: “Lifting whole passages from someone else’s speeches is not change you can believe in. It’s change you can Xerox.”The comment elicited loud groans and some applause from the audience at the University of Texas at Austin.
Here’s the video which captured the moment:
This is the plagiarism Hillary was referring to:
Of course, none of this matters. Not only because it was eight years ago but because as we all know, if it was discovered tomorrow that Obama had plagiarized every speech he’s ever given, Democrats and the media would shrug.
Featured image via YouTube.
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