The controversy surrounding Melania Trump’s GOP convention speech has dominated the media for the past 36 hours. Side-by-side comparisons with Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech have been shown again and again on cable news.
It’s not just the national media, however. As the absolutely brutal clip above makes clear, this is one of the select group of political controversies that breaks through to local newscasts. KUSA 9News—the largest NBC station in the swing state of Colorado—interviewed Maggie Flynn, a 7th grade English teacher, to determine once and for all whether Trump’s speech was plagiarized. With red pen in hand, Flynn marks up the speech and gives Trump a failing grade. She even announces that the controversy has provided her with a brand new “easy way to teach what plagiarism looks like.” You can watch the segment above.
And, just to show you how big this story has become, here’s yet another 9News segment. This one examines the long history of political plagiarism scandals, including ones involving President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
