--- title: Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year description: Donald Trump targeted Joe Biden for his history of plagiarism, arguing that Biden's mistakes would help Trump if Biden ran for President canonical: https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-19T17:33:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:55.197Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year og:description: He said Biden's past plagiarism would've helped Trump in a hypothetical matchup og:url: https://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccd835adf089e2c0/69889c882dce019cc99e9e83/donald-trump-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4440 og:image:height: 2498 og:image:alt: The 2016 Republican National Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year twitter:description: He said Biden's past plagiarism would've helped Trump in a hypothetical matchup twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccd835adf089e2c0/69889c882dce019cc99e9e83/donald-trump-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3ce6d544-ebca-4a3b-a4f6-019c951169ba&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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.  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.” ```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":"2026-08-19T07:45:55.197Z","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","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"}}]}] ```