Meredith McIver, Who Wrote Melania Trump’s RNC Speech, Takes Fall For Michelle Obama Plagiarism

Meredith McIver, who describes herself as an “in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization,” has taken the fall for the section of Melania Trump‘s Republican National Convention speech that plagiarized Michelle Obama‘s 2008 DNC speech.

Meredith McIver On Melania Trump’s Speech

McIver released a statement Wednesday – two days after the now-infamous speech was delivered – to shoulder the blame for the lifted lines in Melania’s speech. The former ballet dancer and English major has previously worked with Donald Trump as a co-author for some of his books, including How to Get Rich and Think Like a Billionaire.

According to McIver, Melania is an admirer of current First Lady Michelle Obama, and had brought the 2008 speech to her attention.

“A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples,” McIver said. “I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.”

That was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama,” McIver added. “No harm was meant.”

McIver went on to claim that she had offered to resign her post from the Trump Organization, but that her offer was turned down.

“Yesterday, I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family, but they rejected it. Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences,” McIver said.

Trump, who tweeted out a link to McIver’s statement, doesn’t seem to be too bothered by the coverage of the RNC – which is in part meant to celebrate his capturing the Republican nomination for president – getting swallowed up by a plagiarism controversy involving his wife.

“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!” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania’s speech than the FBI spent on Hillary’s emails.”

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016

The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania’s speech than the FBI spent on Hillary’s emails.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016