--- title: Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations "Ridiculous" description: "And I worked with Frank Buckley on it, it's as simple as that." canonical: https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-20T05:29:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:42:26.261Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations 'Ridiculous' og:description: He says he worked with a professional speechwriter. og:url: https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e6659cdfb752eaa/69889caea988ca6bbb6b8afe/gettyimages-577716288.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4092 og:image:height: 2302 og:image:alt: Republican National Convention: Day Two og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations 'Ridiculous' twitter:description: He says he worked with a professional speechwriter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e6659cdfb752eaa/69889caea988ca6bbb6b8afe/gettyimages-577716288.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations 'Ridiculous' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a3a2dcac-78bf-4fc5-b98a-9dd933fe6681&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet the Trump Son Speaking at the Convention Tuesday [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Trump Son Speaking at the Convention Tuesday](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kSqkeKZu.m3u8) (2:42)  _Published 2016-07-20. Donald Trump Jr.’s speech at the Republican convention Tuesday night won’t be the first time he’s stumped for his father._  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jul 20, 2016 5:29 AM UTC Donald Trump Jr.’s speech at the Republican convention Tuesday night won’t be the first time he’s stumped for his father.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jul 20, 2016 5:29 AM UTC Donald Trump Jr. slammed critics who accused him of plagiarizing his GOP convention speech Tuesday night, calling the accusations “ridiculous.” “Of course I work with a professional speechwriter who does these things on some things,” Trump told TIME as he left the Westin Hotel bar Tuesday night. “And I’m new to politics, I’ve never done that. I’m going to go with someone who knows what they’re doing. And I worked with Frank Buckley on it, it’s as simple as that.” Buckley, a law professor at George Mason University,[ confirmed](http://time.com/4414279/donald-trump-jr-speechwriter-says-there-was-no-plagiarism/?xid=homepage) that he had indeed written the speech. _The Daily Show_ first pointed out the similarities between Trump Jr.’s speech and a May article in the American Conservative entitled “[Trump vs. the New Class](http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trump-vs-the-new-class/).” Because he had written both the article and the speech, Buckley said, “it’s not an issue.” Trump Jr. agrees. “A lot of it’s my own words because I’m talking about my father and my family,” he added. The allegations come just a day after it was revealed that large portions of Melania Trump’s speech [appear to have been lifted or adapted](http://time.com/4412175/republican-convention-melania-trump-michelle-obama/) from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech. But Trump Jr. says there’s nothing to see here. “People are trying to find a story where it doesn’t exist,” he said. “They have an agenda, they’ve made up their mind, it’s as simple as that.” ## Transcript For too long, our country has ignored its problems, punting them down the road for future generations to deal with. We've actually started to believe that solving our great problems is an impossible task. That's why we need to elect a man who has a track record of accomplishing the impossible. We've lost the confidence in our leaders and the faith in our institutions, but remember one thing. We're still Americans. We're still one country, and we're going to get it all back. I know we're going to get it back, because I know my father. I know when people tell him it can't be done, that guarantees That he gets it done. [ APPLAUSE ] I know that when someone tells him that something is impossible, that's what triggers him into action. The person who would never run for office before, stood on the stage 11 months ago in this very arena with 16 professional politicians And this week, that same man, will stand before you as our parties nominee for the president of the United States of America. [ APPLAUSE ] You wanna know what kind of president he'll be? Let me tell you how he ran his businesses, and I know, because I was there with him, by his side. On job sites, In conference rooms from the time I could walk. He didn't hide out behind some desk in an executive suite. He spent his career with regular Americans. He hung out with the guys on construction sites, pouring sheetrock and hanging, pouring concrete and hanging sheetrock. We didn't learn from MBAs. We learned from people who are doctorates in common sense. [ APPLAUSE ] Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class. Now they're stalled on the ground floor. They're like Soviet aero department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students. You know why other countries do better on K through 12? They let parents choose where to send their own children to school. Who will give the hardworking men and women who built this great country a voice once again. That president can only be my mentor, My best friend, my father, Donald Trump. [ APPLAUSE ] And when we elect him, we'll have done all that. We'll have made America great again. Greater than ever before. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you and God bless. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations 'Ridiculous'","datePublished":"2016-07-20T05:29:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-06T09:42:26.261Z","description":"'Of course I work with a professional speechwriter'","url":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/","keywords":["Republican National Convention","Daily Show","Melania Trump","Donald Trump Jr."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e6659cdfb752eaa/69889caea988ca6bbb6b8afe/gettyimages-577716288.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e6659cdfb752eaa/69889caea988ca6bbb6b8afe/gettyimages-577716288.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican National Convention: Day Two","caption":"Republican National Convention: Day Two","creditText":"John Moore—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/republican-national-convention/","name":"Republican National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/","name":"Donald Trump Jr. Calls Plagiarism Allegations 'Ridiculous'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Meet the Trump Son Speaking at the Convention Tuesday","description":"Donald Trump Jr.’s speech at the Republican convention Tuesday night won’t be the first time he’s stumped for his father.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kSqkeKZu/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-20T03:12:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kSqkeKZu.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/","duration":"PT2M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4414344/donald-trump-jr-calls-plagiarism-allegations-ridiculous/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```