White House defends Melania Trump's 'Be Best' plan in copying Obama-era booklet

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Comics on Melania Trump in Best of Late Night The first lady has been relatively silent during this presidency. But Monday she announced her initiative. It was a bit baffling. Take a look at our favorite jokes, then vote for yours at usatoday.com/opinion.

The White House is miffed that first lady Melania Trump's speech announcing her agenda is being criticized for copying an Obama administration pamphlet on how to talk to kids about online cyber bullying.

A statement issued Tuesday by Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, attacked the "opposition media" for focusing on the strong similarities between two government pamphlets instead of the first lady's Be Best campaign to promote children's well-being during her term.

The statement said Trump's speech on Monday in the Rose Garden was "strong" and "met with a standing ovation and positive feedback."

But Trump critics immediately began tweeting Monday afternoon about the similarities between the Be Best campaign material and an educational booklet, “Talking With Kids About Being Online,” originally produced by the Federal Trade Commission in 2009.

"Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within," Grisham's statement said. "As she said in yesterday’s speech, she is going to use Be Best to promote people and organizations to encourage conversation and replication, and helping the FTC distribute this booklet is just one small example.



"Despite providing countless outlets with ample background, information, and on-the-record comments from the FTC, some media have chosen to take a day meant to promote kindness and positive efforts on behalf of children, to instead lob baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives," the statement said.

Following the Monday speech, Grisham told USA TODAY that the FTC pamphlet is "a good resource" to include with Be Best materials.

"It was updated and edited to reflect today’s event and we were happy to be able to provide the children in attendance with such a resource," she said in an email.

Some critics on Twitter used the term "plagiarism" to describe the use of the pamphlet, and specifically linked it to Trump's speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, which resembled a speech by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Melania Trump has run into another plagiarism problem. https://t.co/u35vTZluK0 — Stone Cold (@stonecold2050) May 8, 2018

But Grisham noted that it's not plagiarism if it's a government document meant to be distributed widely, and the agency that produced the document wants it to be used.

"They approached us to include this as a good resource and we were happy to do so. It is a government resource, which is meant to be distributed," Grisham told USA TODAY.

The FTC even blogged about it, she said.

"At her launch event at the White House, the First Lady distributed copies of 'Talking With Kids About Being Online,' a guide to help parents and other adults have thoughtful conversations with kids about being safe and responsible online. We’re excited that the First Lady is sharing this important information with families across the country," read the blog post by Nathaniel Wood, the FTC's associate director of consumer and business education.

Grisham's statement Tuesday also quoted Wood explaining that the FTC "encourages our partners to help spread our message to consumers. We were excited that Mrs. Trump distributed this important information about staying safe online."

Other critics noted the irony of a Trump administration figure quoting approvingly from a government document — one produced by the previous administration the Trump team has frequently criticized.

But Trump's East Wing team doesn't always follow the same line as her husband's West Wing team when it comes to her platform, as she has demonstrated with her redoubled commitment to fighting cyber bullying.

Critics of President Trump used the first lady's speech to point out other perceived "hypocrisies," such as the fact her announcement came on the same day the Trump administration announced plans to separate undocumented-immigrant kids from their parents in detention at the border, or a proposal to cut billions from children's health insurance.

Also noted: The first lady's agenda priorities include her desire to promote more respectful and responsible online behavior by children — even though the president has been sharply criticized as the "cyber bully in chief" for his use of Twitter to attack his enemies.

"Melania Trump lecturing on cyber-bullying while the biggest cyber bully in the country sits in the audience has got to be the finest example of ironic hypocrisy in recent memory," tweeted Susan Hudson.

Melania Trump lecturing on cyber-bullying while the biggest cyber bully in the country sits in the audience has got to be the finest example of ironic hypocrisy in recent memory. 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 https://t.co/T37pAqIV9I — Susan Hudson (@SusanGlamMom) May 7, 2018

Trump is aware of this dichotomy and has vowed it won't stop her.

"I'm well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic," she told a group of tech leaders at a White House meeting she convened in March to discuss cyber bullying, according to a White House pool transcript.

"I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue and I know that will continue, but it will not stop me from doing what I know is right. I am here with one goal: helping children and our next generation."