Donald Trump: Melania speech blowback caused by Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is blaming Hillary Clinton for pushing forward the news story that parts of Melania Trump’s convention speech on Monday night were seemingly lifted from Michelle Obama’s convention speech in 2008.

“There’s a political tint to this whole issue. Certainly we’ve noted the Clinton camp was the first to get it out there in trying to say there was something untoward about the speech Melania Trump gave,” Manafort said during a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s just another example, as far as we’re concerned, that when Hillary Clinton is threatened by a female, the first thing she does is try to destroy the person.”

Manafort made similar comments to CNN as well. “She was speaking in front of 35 million people last night; she knew that,” he said. “To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy. This is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It’s not going to work.”

Those Clinton comments drew the ire of many online, including Captain America actor Chris Evans. “Most disgusting sound bite of this campaign,” he said referring to the Clinton comment in Manafort’s press conference. “And that’s really saying something. Shame on you.”

Following the first night of the Republican National Convention, many noted how Melania Trump’s speech included words spoken by Michelle Obama eight years ago.

After Melania Trump was accused of plagiarizing the speech, Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement from Jason Miller, senior communications advisor. “In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.”

In an interview with CBS on Tuesday, Manafort echoed those sentiments. “There are not that many similarities. There are a couple of phrases. It’s basically fragment of words. She spoke in front of 35 million people yesterday, she knew what she was doing. She never cribbed from another speech without acknowledging that she was quoting somebody else,” he said. Manafort later added, “We’re talking about words like compassion, love of family, respect. These are not words that belong to the Obamas.” Manafort also noted how the speech was written in collaboration with Melania Trump, which contradicts what she told Matt Lauer in an NBC interview before the convention.