Carson: Melania's alleged plagiarism a sign 'we share the same values'

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Trump campaign surrogate Ben Carson on Tuesday dismissed evidence that elements of Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention were plagiarized from Michelle Obama, suggesting that if plagiarism did occur, it was a sign of shared values.

“If Melania’s speech is similar to Michelle Obama’s speech, that should make us all very happy because we should be saying, whether we’re Democrats or Republicans, we share the same values,” he told reporters after addressing a Florida GOP delegation breakfast at a hotel here 20 minutes outside Cleveland, where the RNC is taking place.


“If we happen to share values, we should celebrate that, not try to make it into a controversy,” he added.

His comments come as Melania Trump faces intense scrutiny over a portion of her Monday night speech that echoed, nearly word for word, part of the first lady’s 2008 address at the Democratic National Convention. The Trump campaign insists that Melania Trump’s speech was not plagiarized, and Carson echoed that.

“I don’t think they were plagiarized. I think there are general principles that are very valuable to Americans, and of course to express those principles you’re going to use similar language,” Carson said.

Carson, a former presidential candidate himself, is no stranger to dealing with fallout from plagiarism. In 2015, he apologized for examples of plagiarism found in his book, “America the Beautiful.”

Pressed on why he apologized then, if he was willing to wave off evidence of plagiarism now, he said as he ducked into a car, “Because I don’t like to keep a controversy going. I like to talk about positive things.”

Carson also said that he did not want a Cabinet position in a future Trump administration.

“I hope not to have a position,” he said. “I don’t want to be in the government. I think private citizens can do a great deal.”