--- ---  # Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 19, 2016 5:33 PM UTC  Donald Trump, presumptive 2016 Republican presidential nominee, speaks during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. Donald Trump, presumptive 2016 Republican presidential nominee, speaks during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016.Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 19, 2016 5:33 PM UTC Donald Trump last year targeted Vice President Joe Biden for his history of plagiarism, arguing that Biden’s past mistakes would give Trump an advantage if Biden entered the race. It’s now Trump who finds himself on the receiving end of [similar accusations](http://time.com/4412477/melania-trump-campaign-blames-hillary-clinton/), after [Melania Trump’s speech](http://time.com/4412009/republican-convention-melania-trump-compassion/) at the Republican National Convention included a [passage that appeared to borrow heavily](http://time.com/4412175/republican-convention-melania-trump-michelle-obama/) from Michelle Obama’s convention address in 2008. Biden dropped out of the presidential race in 1987, acknowledging he “made some mistakes” that cast an “exaggerated shadow” over his campaign, the [New York _Times_ reported](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/24/us/biden-withdraws-bid-for-president-in-wake-of-furor.html) at the time. Biden had been accused of plagiarism as a law school student and as a politician, when he [echoed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rkoqglq9dU)—without attribution—the words of British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. In an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU1Sq5CBZWw) with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt in August 2015, Trump named his lack of involvement in plagiarism as one of the advantages he would have over Biden, who was at that time still weighing a presidential run. “If it’s Joe Biden, how do you match up against Joe Biden?” Hewitt asked Trump in the interview. “I think I’d match up great,” Trump said. “I’m a job producer. I’ve had a great record. I haven’t been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against Biden.” Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year","datePublished":"2016-07-19T17:33:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:21:58.351Z","description":"He said Biden's past plagiarism would've helped Trump in a hypothetical matchup","url":"https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic","Joe Biden","Republican National Convention","Melania Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccd835adf089e2c0/69889c882dce019cc99e9e83/donald-trump-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccd835adf089e2c0/69889c882dce019cc99e9e83/donald-trump-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The 2016 Republican National Convention","caption":"The 2016 Republican National Convention","creditText":"Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/","name":"Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year"}}]}] ```