Scrutiny of Melania Trump's speech follows plagiarism allegations

CLEVELAND – Donald Trump's presidential campaign came under new scrutiny Tuesday after it became apparent that part of Melania Trump's primetime address Monday night at the Republican National Convention bore conspicuous similarities to a speech delivered by first lady Michelle Obama in 2008 at the Democratic convention.

The plagiarism charges have cast a shadow over Trump and his campaign on the second day of the convention here in Cleveland, where Republicans are making the case to a skeptical country that the celebrity billionaire -the most unconventional and impulsive major-party standard-bearer in modern history – could be a credible and steadfast leader at a time of terrorist threats abroad and senseless tragedies at home.

Trump's campaign and allies rushed to defend Melania Trump on Tuesday morning.

[For Alaska delegates, GOP rules fracas wasn't about Donald Trump]

"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," wrote senior communications advisor Jason Miller in a statement. "Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success."

Melania Trump had previously indicated that she wrote the speech herself.

On Tuesday morning, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied that there had been any plagiarism, despite clear similarities between the two speeches. Some parts of the speeches appeared to be the same, word for word.

"There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values that she cares about, her family, things like that," Manafort said on CNN's "New Day" Tuesday morning. "She was speaking in front of 35 million people last night, she knew that, to think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy."

He added that he does not believe "Trump feels that there's anything to fire someone about" during an interview on CBS.

Speaking about the controversy, former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour called the controversy a "nothingburger" during an interview with The Washington Post. He defended Melania Trump and said that the speech appeared heartfelt. "If I took the 10 most significant things that happened last night, I would not include this in the list," he said.

Details of how the controversy unfolded emerged throughout the morning Tuesday.

The mood within Trump's hotel headquarters here quickly turned from ebullient to dark after the convention session ended Monday. Manafort and other campaign officials were seen shaking hands as they left the arena and receiving congratulations from party consultants after the conclusion of the first night and in particular for Melania Trump's speech. Then, once much of Trump's team was back at their hotel, cable news channels began to intensely cover the plagiarism story.

Manafort and spokesman Jason Miller worked together in the post-midnight hours of Tuesday morning to craft the first statement, according to a person close to the campaign who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Meanwhile, Trump returned to New York with his wife following her speech, leaving him in reach of his top aides but partly in transit during the initial spate of headlines.

Defiance defined the Trump campaign's response from the start, beginning with closed-door talks and text messages between advisers where they expressed indignation about the news coverage of Melania Trump's speech and immediately began to call plagiarism claims unfair and "absurd," as a second Trump person to the campaign said Tuesday. Not close to many establishment Republicans and with chilly relations with some media outlets, Manafort's group of confidants balked at the coverage and the scrutiny, the person said.

[Rancor reigns as divided Republicans begin their convention]

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for helping to craft Melania Trump's remarks since the Trump campaign speechwriting operation is not like most traditional presidential campaigns with a small staff and a narrow chain of command. Instead, the Trump campaign has one main speechwriter, Stephen Miller, and relies on other Trump associates for input. In recent days, for example, Manafort has consulted with two former Reagan speechwriters, Ben T. Elliott and Peter Robinson, on Trump's upcoming acceptance speech but that pair is not formally part of the campaign.

Manafort made the rounds of an empty arena Tuesday morning, going between television sets on the convention floor as he made his case, looking tired and insisting that the plagiarism was being overstated and overplayed.

Elsewhere within the Republican establishment, however, reaction was starkly different.

"Talking to operatives here, the mood is something between grim resignation and the Donner Party," said veteran GOP consultant Mike Murphy on Tuesday morning.

Melania Trump, an immigrant from Slovenia and a former fashion model, has been a glamorous but generally silent presence at her husband's side. Her remarks were seen as an opportunity to soften the image of her husband, whose bombastic style and penchant for feuds has at times emerged as a political liability.

"From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect," Melania said, in one part of the speech now being scrutinized. "[W]e 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."

Her dislike of and discomfort with public speaking are well known, making her well-received address a high moment of the night. She has rarely appeared on the campaign trail and does not often speak to the press.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus called the controversy a "distraction" during a breakfast hosted by Bloomberg Tuesday morning, but he said that he believes the controversy will not eclipse the campaign's message at the convention. He added that he does not blame Melania Trump for the cribbing but said that someone should "probably" be fired.

"But it all depends on the circumstances…It certainly seems reasonable to me [that someone should be fired]," he said.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a staunch Trump ally, defended the campaign Tuesday, saying that "93 percent of the speech is completely different than Michelle Obama's speech." He said that he believes the controversy will die down by Tuesday evening.

The plagiarism controversy capped a tumultuous first convention day.

A particularly emotional moment Monday night came in a speech by Patricia Smith, whose son Sean was one of four Americans who died in the 2012 attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, while Clinton was secretary of state.

As she was speaking, Trump was doing a television interview with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, an unusual counter-programming move that may have drawn many viewers away from what was happening on the convention stage.

Trump also defied many of the norms and expectations surrounding these quadrennial party gatherings, by taking the stage briefly to introduce his wife. He was lit in silhouette as the sound system played the song "We Are the Champions" by the British rock band Queen.

Afterward, he returned to the stage and gave his wife a kiss.

With their departure, the hall began emptying, even though there were more speakers. The audience's exit did not deter retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who continued to speak for nearly half an hour. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, spoke to a largely empty convention hall.

The convention opened with a spasm of procedural chaos in which hundreds of rebellious delegates staged one last, futile effort to stop Trump, roiling what is normally a rote procedure to approve party rules. The technical details became a proxy for their larger effort to put one final speed bump between Trump and the nomination.

Collectively, the drama largely eclipsed the theme of the first night, "Make America Safe Again," which was selected a month and a half ago.