Melania Gets Two for One

After a rather predictable series of angry “red meat” speeches designed to create a patina of unity among the delegates, Melania Trump, introduced by her husband, Donald, proceeded to give a speech plagiarized from Michelle Obama.   The reaction of the MSNBC commentators in real time exposed how two of the most common media narratives for explaining Melania’s plagiarism evolved.  The first group was male dominated (Brian Williams, Lawrence O’Donnell, Steve Schmidt, Chris Matthews, and Rachel Maddow).  They exonerated Melania as the victim of irresponsible speechwriters and incompetent campaign officials.  This group explicitly opined that Melania did not write or review her speech because she was the candidate’s wife.  In other words, as a woman judged by mostly white men, Melania got a break.
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The second group was female dominated (Joy Ann Reid, Hallie Jackson, Kelly O’Donnell, and Jacob Soboroff) they excoriated Melania because it was, after all, her speech.  As Reid, a black female, also noted, if Michelle Obama had given a speech that included two plagiarized paragraphs from Laura Bush, the media would have demeaned her mercilessly.   In other words, as a white woman judged by mostly women, Melania was called to account for her behavior.  Interestingly, both groups were very positive about Melania’s speech and gave it the highest marks of the evening.  What does it say when the least angry, most positive speech is the one that the candidate’s wife plagiarized? Kudos to Michelle Obama.