--- title: Melania Trump: Real Scandal Isn't Plagiarism. It’s Racism. description: The scandal over Melania Trump plagiarizing Michelle Obama in her speech to the Republican National Convention Monday is about racism. canonical: https://time.com/4414701/trump-plagiarism-scandal-racism/ author: Christopher Hale article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-20T17:05:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:19.325Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Real Trump Scandal Isn't Plagiarism. It’s Racism. og:description: The politics of exclusion are in full force at the RNC og:url: https://time.com/4414701/trump-plagiarism-scandal-racism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt225029ae67f6cff3/69889cb22dce01f4f59e9eb6/melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Melania Trump speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Real Trump Scandal Isn't Plagiarism. It’s Racism. twitter:description: The politics of exclusion are in full force at the RNC twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt225029ae67f6cff3/69889cb22dce01f4f59e9eb6/melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Real Trump Scandal Isn't Plagiarism. It’s Racism. > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: The Perfect Discomfort of Melania Trump’s Convention Speech [Watch (HLS stream): The Perfect Discomfort of Melania Trump’s Convention Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dBYuDa54.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2016-07-19. Melania Trump’s speech lay towards the end of a long evening of the Republican National Convention’s TV broadcast like the pot of gold at the end of—well, not a rainbow. Perhaps a minefield._ by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Jul 20, 2016 5:05 PM UTC  Melania Trump speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. Melania Trump speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. Carolyn Cole—LA Times via Getty Images by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Jul 20, 2016 5:05 PM UTC The scandal over [Melania Trump plagiarizing](http://time.com/4413098/melania-trump-speech/) Michelle Obama in her speech to the Republican National Convention Monday isn’t just about plagiarism. It’s also about systemic racism in Donald Trump’s campaign. Anyone who has worked on a political campaign knows that Melania, despite what she said, probably didn’t write that speech by herself. (A Trump campaign staffer took the [blame](http://www.thewrap.com/melania-trump-speechwriter-accepts-blame/?utm%5Fcontent=buffer78f3f&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fcampaign=buffer).) Michelle Obama probably didn’t write hers by herself either. Both are campaign products, and each reveal to us something about the values behind the campaigns. Those who argue that this plagiarism scandal is indicative of a campaign that has poor structure and little discipline are missing the bigger point: this act is the fruit of a movement that has used dog whistle politics and, at times, overt racism to win the Republican nomination. The politics of exclusion were in full force at the convention Monday night as the party aroused the concerns of white Americans with three populations that they think threaten American security and prosperity: immigrants from Latin America, Muslim refugees from the Middle East and “militant” blacks in American cities. At a panel discussion on MSNBC Monday, Representative Steve King, a Trump supporter, [questioned](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/us/politics/steve-king-nonwhite-subgroups.html?%5Fr=0) whether nonwhite people had contributed much to society: --- > “” --- As author [Courtney Milan noted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/755405116446904321): the very act of plagiarizing a black woman is “racism in action:” “It’s not just plagiarism. It’s plagiarism of a black woman in an election where surrogates say that nonwhite people have added nothing.” The irony couldn’t be clearer: Trump’s campaign lifted language from Michelle Obama’s speech about the American Dream and shared values, while the GOP candidate has openly doubted that President Obama was truly American and has said that Obama is actively working to destroy our shared values. _Fusion_ writer Collier Meyerson [puts it well:](http://fusion.net/story/327072/melania-trump-speech-plagiarism-rnc-racist-stealing/) “this plagiarism goes far deeper into the belly of the America’s racist beast: the appropriation of black culture by whites.” --- > “” --- During the lifted portion of Melania’s speech, she said: “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. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life.” If only Donald Trump and his campaign had learned the same lesson. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4414701/trump-plagiarism-scandal-racism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4414701/trump-plagiarism-scandal-racism/"},"headline":"The Real Trump Scandal Isn't Plagiarism. 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