--- ---  # Republican Official Uses 'My Little Pony' to Defend Melania Trump Against Plagiarism Allegations by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 8:35 PM UTC  Melania Trump addresses delegates on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. Melania Trump addresses delegates on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016.Robyn Beck—AFP/Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 8:35 PM UTC A GOP official defended Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention from plagiarism allegations on Tuesday by referencing the children’s television show “My Little Pony.” Melania Trump, Donald Trump’s wife, was criticized Tuesday for a speech that [seemed to echo a Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4412175/republican-convention-melania-trump-michelle-obama/) speech from eight years ago, with some Democrats and commentators [calling the Trump](http://time.com/4413098/melania-trump-speech/) speech [plagiarism](http://time.com/4412372/melania-trump-speech-criticism-michelle-obama/). But Donald Trump and Republicans have defended the Monday keynote speech at the Republican National Convention. [**Read More:** _Donald Trump Criticized Joe Biden for Plagiarism Last Year_](http://time.com/4413066/donald-trump-joe-biden-plagiarism/) “Melania Trump said, ‘The strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them.’ Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony said, ‘This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dream you can do now,” said Sean Spicer, director of communications for the Republican National Committee, [on CNN.](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/19/rnc-communications-director-plagiarism-sot-wolf.cnn) “If we want to take a bunch of phrases and run them through Google and say, ‘Hey, who else has said them?’ I can come up with a list in five minutes.” [**Read More:** _How Melania Trump’s Plagiarism Happened_](http://time.com/4413098/melania-trump-speech/) Spicer was only the latest Republican to defend Melania’s speech. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, [told TIME](http://time.com/4412477/melania-trump-campaign-blames-hillary-clinton/) that the phrases in question were “not words that are unique words,” and accused Hillary Clinton of making the speech an issue. [**Read More:** _Melania Trump’s Alleged Plagiarism Inspires Memes and Humor_](http://Melania Trump’s Alleged Plagiarism Inspires Memes and Humor) RNC Uses 'My Little Pony' to Defend Melania Trump ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4413657/melania-trump-plagiarism-my-little-pony/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4413657/melania-trump-plagiarism-my-little-pony/"},"headline":"Republican Official Uses 'My Little Pony' to Defend Melania Trump Against Plagiarism Allegations","datePublished":"2016-07-19T20:35:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:22:33.809Z","description":"He used a quote from Twilight Sparkle","url":"https://time.com/4413657/melania-trump-plagiarism-my-little-pony/","keywords":["Melania Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cb55cc63abc7eed/69889c9cf887dca1e7e96ae2/melania-trump-rnc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cb55cc63abc7eed/69889c9cf887dca1e7e96ae2/melania-trump-rnc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-REPUBLICANS-CONVENTION","caption":"Melania Trump addresses delegates on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016.","creditText":"Robyn Beck—AFP/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/melania-trump/","name":"Melania Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4413657/melania-trump-plagiarism-my-little-pony/","name":"Republican Official Uses 'My Little Pony' to Defend Melania Trump Against Plagiarism Allegations"}}]}] ```