Your support helps us to tell the story
Jordan Klepper roasted Melania Trump over her “ChatGPT” memoir and the now-infamous plagiarism scandal involving Michelle Obama’s speech during Wednesday night’s The Daily Show.
Reading Melania’s memoir to the studio audience, Klepper shared an excerpt about “a private moment” between the former first lady and Donald Trump after he had just won the 2016 election.
The comedian – totally deadpan – read aloud a passage where Melania turned to her husband and said: “Congratulations. What an achievement. All those other people, and you won. You’re the president of the United States of America.”
According to Melania, Trump replied: “And you’re the first lady. Good luck.”
“I’ve got to wipe away a tear on that one,” Klepper joked. “That is a heartwarming moment that definitely wasn’t created by ChatGPT.”
He added that it “turns out, writing is hard when you don’t have Michelle Obama to plagiarize from” – a quip referring to Melania’s 2016 Republican National Convention speech controversy.
Melania quickly came under fire following her 2016 address as viewers noticed an uncanny likeness to Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech.
Certain phrases even matched Obama’s word for word.
In one example, Melania said: “Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
Obama, in comparison, said: “And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.”
In her new book, Melania admits the speech contained “undeniable similarities” to Obama’s and accused the Trump campaign team of “fail[ing] to implement even the most fundamental safeguard.”
During her research for the speech, Melania says she was drawn to Obama’s speech years earlier.
“During my review of many speeches of previous First Ladies, Michelle’s emphasis on the fundamental values of hard work, integrity, and kindness resonated deeply, reflecting the core principles that were instilled in me by my parents during my upbringing in Slovenia,” Melania writes.
The speech went down well at the RNC and Melania was riding high. But it didn’t last.
“My sense of accomplishment on our flight back home swiftly turned to dismay and shock as news of a potential accusation of plagiarism reached our campaign,” Melania’s book reads.
“My initial reaction was one of disbelief, but upon closer examination, the undeniable similarities between the two speeches left me reeling,” she recalls.
“The weight of this realization hit me with a force I had never experienced. Looking back, I realized that I had relied too much on others in this crucial endeavor.”
