Who Wore It Better?
Melania Trump Nudges Husband When He Forgets Where To Put His Hand During National Anthem
President Trump forgot to put his hand over his heart during the singing of the national anthem at today’s White House Easter celebration.
Fortunately, there was an immigrant nearby to nudge his hand…
That’s a subtle nudge from Melania to remind Trump to lift his hand during the national anthem… https://t.co/P9XlYpjvcQ— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) April 17, 2017
Bill Clinton & Melania Trump Will Not Cross Paths Before Tonight’s Presidential Debate
According to the New York Times, the spouses and children of the two presidential candidates will not cross paths as they enter the third and final debate tonight in Las Vegas.
You’ll remember at the last debate, the Trump campaign attempted to seat past accusers of Bill Clinton in the Trump family VIP seating meaning he would have been face to face with the women at the top of the evening.
The Clinton side is not taking any chances at the final presidential debate, on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, and has apparently gained approval of a different protocol for the entry of the candidates’ spouses and families into the debate hall.
The new arrangement calls for the candidates’ spouses to enter the hall closer to their seats, rather than crossing the room, and each other’s paths. That would avoid any potential for confrontations, given Mr. Trump’s penchant for dramatic stunts.
On Tuesday, an aide to Mrs. Clinton declined to comment on the change, and aides to Mr. Trump did not respond to an email seeking comment. It is possible, of course, that further negotiations could result in a different arrangement, if both sides agree, by the time the debate begins at 9 p.m. Eastern.
But the unease over how the candidates’ families interact echoes that of the candidates themselves. At the debate in St. Louis, in a striking departure from tradition, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump did not shake hands at the start, though they did at the conclusion of the 90 minutes.
Melania Trump: Billy Bush “Egged” My Husband On To Say “Inappropriate” Comments
After spending months attacking the “biased” mainstream media, it is interesting that Donald Trump dispatched his wife, Melania, to do a one on one interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN.
I guess he knows where the audience is.
Melania Trump says her husband was “egged on” in the 2005 tape in which he made lewd comments about his own sexually aggressive behavior toward women — remarks she says were “boy talk.”
“I said to my husband that, you know, the language was inappropriate. It’s not acceptable. And I was surprised, because that is not the man that I know,” the wife of the Republican presidential nominee said in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, which is set to air at 8 p.m. ET Monday.
“And as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on — it was only a mic. And I wonder if they even knew that the mic was on,” she said, referring to Trump and NBC’s “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush. She said they were engaged in “boy talk, and he was led on — like, egged on — from the host to say dirty and bad stuff.”
I’m not sure exactly how to take that “egged on” comment. Does that mean that a 59 year old Donald Trump was too weak willed to be his own man? That Billy Bush was the “alpha” and Trump the “beta?”
If you can’t handle yourself against the mental machinations of Billy Bush, how are you going to stand up to the leaders of foreign nations?
Melania Trump says her husband was egged on by Billy Bush when he made sexually aggressive remarks in a 2005 tape https://t.co/MtUrvlX6kx— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 17, 2016
News Round-Up: August 4, 2016
Some news stories you may have missed:
• First look at Supergirl‘s cousin “Superman,” 28 year old Tyler Hoechlin, as he rips open his shirt to become the man of steel and save the day. Hoechlin makes his debut in the second season of Supergirl this fall.
• Anti-gay Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp loses his primary challenge on Tuesday to newcomer Roger Marshall. You name the anti-gay legislation, this guy supported it.
• It’s very possible that, before marrying Donald Trump, Melania Trump was working in the U.S. illegally.
• Seattle City Council unanimously passes an ordinance protecting youth from being subjected to so-called “ex-gay” therapy. Research has shown the practice amounts to torture for young LGBTs.
• Immediately upon being eligible to receive classified briefings, Donald Trump describes “top secret” video he saw at campaign rally.
• This couple turns the perception of tops/bottoms upside down.
White House On Melania Speech Debacle: “The Country’s Got A Lot Of Common Ground”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked about the Melania Trump speech debacle at today’s White House press briefing and he had this to say:
“Obviously in 2008, Mrs. Obama spoke movingly in her own words about her life story, her values,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. “I’m confident that in the future, aspiring first ladies or potential first husbands would draw on the same kinds of sentiments to advocate for their spouse.”
He added that the fact that Melania Trump received “such a strong review of her speech based on reflection of the same kinds of values that were included in Mrs. Obama’s speech … is an indication that the country’s got a lot of common ground, even in spite of the political divisions that are on display at the convention.”
Classy way to handle it.
Trump Staffer Meredith McIver Takes Responsibility For Melania Trump Speech
A Donald Trump in-house staff writer named Meredith McIver has taken responsibility for the phrases in Melania Trump’s RNC speech that were clearly lifted from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention.
The explanation seems to be Melania Trump read some passages by Michelle Obama, who Melania admits to admiring, to Ms. McIver who was helping with the speech.
McIver says she wrote the phrases down but somehow didn’t realize (?) that the phrases were direct quotes from the First Lady.
“Over the phone, she (Melania Trump) read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.”
What isn’t clear is why no one associated with the Trump campaign bothered to run the speech through commonly available software that checks for plagiarism.
And why would a professional writer (she co-wrote three of Donald Trump’s books) take such a sloppy approach to the most important speech of Melania Trump’s life?
Ms. McIver goes on to say that she offered her resignation but Donald responded with “people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences.”
Because that sure sounds like the Trumpster, huh?
Here’s what is interesting here: the minute this happened Monday night everyone on the Trump campaign including Melania knew who had worked on the speech. You know that the first person addressed in this debacle was Ms. McIver. Why wasn’t this explanation offered yesterday? Instead we got 24 hours of distortion and obfuscation.
What this highlights is how such a small, inexperienced staff can hurt a campaign. And it continues today as the topic will now continue to dominate the news today. Very amateur stuff here.
You can read the full statement (on official Trump letterhead!) below. Click the image to enlarge.
The Trumpster, who has stayed silent as the campaign took time to formulate some kind of response, tweeted this out moments ago:
Good news is Melania’s speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016
The Late Show: Laura Benanti Kills As “Melania Trump”
In 2008 we had the fabulous Tina Fey to channel the vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
This election cycle we have the uber-talented Laura Benanti bring us a slightly more comedic version of Donald Trump spouse, Melania Trump, on last night’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
I’m not a fan of making fun of political spouses, but this really lampoons the plagiarism story more than Melania, and the comedy here is very clever you have to admit.
Radio Show: Talking Day One Of 2016 Republican National Convention
Check out my latest radio show episode from BlogTalkRadio:
Last night marked the kickoff of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Speakers included 80s actors Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr., former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and many more.
Plus, Melania Trump spoke – with some controversy – about her husband, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Comparisons with Michelle Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech in 2008 show many similarities.
I have my opinion about what happened, and I’d love to hear yours.
Jarrett Hill, Journalist Who Noticed “Similarities” Between Michelle Obama/Melania Trump Speeches, Talks To CNN
Jarrett Hill, who first brought to light the “similarities” between Melania Trump’s Republican National Convention speech last night and Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech, talks to Brooke Baldwin about how he realized what was unfolding during Melania’s speech.
Top of the interview Hill shares that he is NOT a paid surrogate for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Indeed, he openly admits he is currently unemployed as a journalist.
Hill explains that while listening to Mrs. Trump speak, the phrase “strength of your dreams” jumped out at him. He researched the phrase and found it in a video of Mrs. Obama’s 2008 speech.
Hill also notes that what we’re all talking about here is the enormous “coincidence” of using the same 22 out of 29 words in the same paragraph.