Speechwriter Takes Blame for Melania Speech

Meredith McIver, the writer who was reported to have worked with Melania Trump on overhauling the original RNC speech that was written for her, has released a statement on Trump's website taking the blame for the ensuing plagiarism controversy. While working together on the speech, “we discussed many people who inspired [Melania Trump] and messages she wanted to share with the American people,” McIver writes. “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.”

McIver went on to publicly apologize for the mishap and say that she felt "terrible" for putting not just the Trumps, but also the Obamas, through this. She said she offered her resignation to the Trumps but they rejected it: “Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences." Before the statement went out, Trump was on Twitter in a very good mood, the Washington Post reports: "Good news is Melania's speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press!" he tweeted, adding, "The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania's speech than the FBI spent on Hillary's emails." (More Election 2016 stories.)