Meredith McIver, an in-house writer, admits she wrote the Melania Trump speech that included words lifted from Michelle Obama
Melania read her portions of Michelle Obama's 2008 speech to Democratic National Convention, which McIver wrote down and later used
Says she offered to quit but was turned down by Donald Trump who did not want her punished for her error
Issued public statement on Wednesday identifying herself and describing how fiasco unfolded
An employee at Donald Trump's real estate company has come forward to say she inadvertently spliced portions of Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech into the address Melania Trump delivered Monday night.
Mrs. Trump's speech drew instant criticism when a half-dozen lines were found to be in common with Mrs. Obama's from eight years ago.
Meredith McIver, an in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization and former ballet dancer, released a statement Wednesday saying she wrote down portions of the Obama speech – with Mrs. Trump reading them to her over the phone – and included them later in the draft she presented to Melania.
'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,' she wrote. 'No harm was meant.'
MICHELLE OBAMA'S SPEECH (2008)
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MELANIA TRUMP'S SPEECH (2016)
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'And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that
you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you
do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and
respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.
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'My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what
you want in life.
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'And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and
pass them on to the next generation.
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'That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your
promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values
and morals in their daily lives.
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'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 for them.'
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'That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we
need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. 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.'
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| GHOSTWRITER: Meredith McIver has helped Trump with his bestselling books, including this one |
'Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences,' she wrote.
'I asked to put out this statement because I did not like seeing the way this was distracting from Mr. Trump's historic campaign for president and Melania's beautiful message and presentation,' McIver concluded.
The New York Times on Wednesday identified McIver as the staffer responsible for the speech's first draft.
McIver has worked on some of Mr. Trump's books, including 'How to Get Rich' and 'Think Like a Billionaire.'
The newly minted Republican nominee tweeted on Wednesday that the '[g]ood 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!'
In a second Twitter message, he carped, 'The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania’s speech than the F.B.I. spent on Hillary’s emails.'
PILING ON: Trump tweeted his take on Melania's speech controversy after McIver released her statement
