Colbert asks: Does McCain plagiarize Wikipedia to show tech-savvyness?

David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Thursday August 14, 2008





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Recent accusations that John McCain plagarized from Wikipedia in a recent speech on the conflict between Russia and Georgia could have simply been an effort to move away from earlier concerns that he doesn't know how to use a computer at all.

"A lot of people have said a guy who can't use a computer is the wrong person for the White House," Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert joked Wednesday night. "The last time i checked, the president only needs to know how to press one button.

"But now comes proof that McCain has learned how to use a computer because evidently he has plagiarized from the Internets," he continued.

Outlining the accusations that McCain copied from a Wikipedia entry on Georgia, saying it was among the "world's first countries to adopt Christianity as an official religion." Wikipedia contained the same line, referring to one of the "first nations" to adopt the religion.

"Those words are interchangeable, just like Sunnis and Shiites," Colbert said, transferring to a joke about McCain's own confusion about the two Muslim sects.

"The Internet can be a creepy place," Colbert said. "But it's a lot less creepy than McCain's previous source of foreign policy information: Joe Lieberman."

This video is from Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, broadcast August 13, 2008.



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