Donald Trump's wife, Melania, has been accused of plagiarising a Michelle Obama speech during her address to delegates and voters at the Republican National Convention.

The passages in question, which have been deemed to be strikingly similar, focus on the lessons that Mrs Trump said she had learned from her parents and the relevance of these in her experience as a mother.

"My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect," the aspiring first lady told the gathering in Cleveland on Monday night.

"They taught me to show the values and morals in my daily life. That is the lesson that I continue to pass along to our son," the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee added.

Turn back the clock eight years to August 2008 and Mrs Obama told the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado: "Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.


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"And Barack Obama and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generations, because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievement is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."

Before she delivered the well-received address, Mrs Trump a Slovenian-born jewellery designer and former model, told NBC's Matt Lauer she wrote her speech "with as little help as possible".

After questions were raised about the passages that matched almost word-for-word the speech given by Mrs Obama, Mr Trump's spokesman Jason Miller responded: "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking."

Mrs Trump's endorsement of her husband was designed to help Americans understand the "man behind the mogul", who according to the polls, is the least popular presidential candidate in history.

The White House is yet to comment on the similarities that have been drawn between the two speeches.