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Donald Trump Jr. claimed today that President Obama plagiarized him in the President’s speech last night to the Democratic National Convention. Sadly for the junior Trump, it is he who plagiarized the President.
Earlier today Trump Jr. tweeted the accusation against the President, claiming that Obama’s line last night — “that is not the America I know” — was in fact coined by Trump Jr. last week.
In fact, Obama has used the line repeatedly — and as recently as two weeks ago in a speech about the Dallas police officers who were murdered — as have other presidents, which would mean that Trump Jr. plagiarized it from Obama (or at the very least, from previous presidents).
As NBC notes, Obama used a similar phrase during an economic address in 2010, while talking about college affordability in 2012, and in a recent speech about murdered police officers in Dallas. NBC also found an instance of George W. Bush using the phrase immediately following 9/11.
First, here’s Donald Trump Jr. last week:
There’s so much work to do. We will not accept the current state of our country because it’s too hard to change. That’s not the America I know. We’re going to unleash the creative spirit and energy of all Americans. We’re going to make our schools the best in the world for every single American of every single ethnicity and background.
Here’s Obama last night:
What we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican and it sure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems, just the fanning of resentment and blame and anger and hate. And that is not the America I know. The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous.
The thing is, this is Obama’s line, not Trump’s.
Obama 2010:
LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 23, 2016: Donald Trump is flanked by sons Eric (Right) and Donald Jr. (Left) during Mr. Trump’s victory speech after Nevada caucus, Las Vegas, NV at Treasure Island Casino and Hotel. Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
It was an America where you didn’t buy things you couldn’t afford; where we didn’t just think about today -– we thought about tomorrow. An America that took pride in the goods that we made, not just the things we consumed. An America where a rising tide really did lift all boats, from the company CEO to the guy on the assembly line.
That’s the America I believe in. That’s the America I believe in….
Cleveland, that is not the America I know. That is not the America we believe in.…
That’s what we Democrats believe in -– a vibrant free market, but one that works for everybody.
Obama in 2012:
I want this to be a big, bold, generous country where everybody gets a fair shot, everybody is doing their fair share, everybody is playing by the same set of rules. That’s the America I know. That’s the American I want to keep. That’s the future within our reach.
Obama in 2016, just two weeks ago:
We mourn fewer people today because of your brave actions. (Applause.) “Everyone was helping each other,” one witness said. “It wasn’t about black or white. Everyone was picking each other up and moving them away.” See, that’s the America I know.
The police helped Shetamia Taylor as she was shot trying to shield her four sons. She said she wanted her boys to join her to protest the incidents of black men being killed. She also said to the Dallas PD, “Thank you for being heroes.” And today, her 12-year old son wants to be a cop when he grows up. That’s the America I know….
These men, this department — this is the America I know….
In this audience, I see what’s possible — (applause) — I see what’s possible when we recognize that we are one American family, all deserving of equal treatment, all deserving of equal respect, all children of God. That’s the America that I know.
Obama used the phrase repeatedly, not two weeks ago. Where do you think Trump Jr. heard it?
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