The Donald Trump campaign organisation says 'an innocent mistake' is responsible for the appearance of two passages from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama in Melania Trump's widely reported address at the party's national convention.
Donald Trump and speech writer, Meredith McIver
Meredith McIver who is the speech writer that wrote the controversial widely reported speech read by Melania Trump, the wife of American presidential hopeful, Donald Trump, has said that “an innocent mistake” is responsible for the appearance of two passages from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama in Melania’s address at the party’s national convention.
In a statement posted on the Trump campaign’s website, Meredith McIver, a family friend and writer for the organization, identified herself as the person responsible for lifting phrases for Melania's Trump convention speech, apologized and said;
"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," she said.
McIver revealed that she tendered a resignation to the Trump campaign organisation over the embarrassment, but that Donald Trump rejected it and said that "people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences."
"She made a mistake ... we all make mistakes," Donald Trump told ABC News later Wednesday.
She explained how the whole issue happened in the first place. “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. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama.
“Over the phone, she reads 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.
“I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family but they rejected it and that Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and we learn and grow from these experiences,” the statement read.
The employee, who has worked on some of Trump’s books, was brought in after the Republican candidate discarded the majority of a draft written by two professional speechwriters.
Below is her letter in full;