On the list of political offenses, this one doesn’t rank very high, but hey, I’m an old English teacher, and “Thou Shalt Not Copy” is one of the commandments in my code of classroom conduct. The same commandment applies in the worlds of journalism and publishing.

Ben Carson published an op ed on February 26 about the patriotism of “our brothers and sisters in the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Trump used the same wording in an op ed he published on March 9. And that’s only the beginning. The two columns share about half of their language. Clearly, without any room for doubt, the Trump column lifted specific wording and the general concept from Carson’s column. You can see the two columns side by side here.

I’m sure neither Trump nor Carson penned their op eds. I don’t know if either of them even bothered to look at what was published under their names. Someone in the campaigns probably decided it was a good idea to pen a column, and some staffer wrote it. Trump picked up Carson staffers when he left the race, so one of them might have done the cut-and-paste from what was already on the Carson hard drive, with a few variations.

Trump’s not the first political or academic plagiarist, and he won’t be the last. Still, when Joe Biden didn’t bother to attribute part of a speech he gave to the original speaker awhile ago, it cost him big time. It might have even cost him a chance at the presidency. Rand Paul got caught copying stuff straight from Wikipedia and other online sources without attribution, but he never got far enough in his presidential bid for it to come back to haunt him. Authors get their hands slapped for this kind of thing and lose prestige and credence which they have to earn back, if they can.

Will the Trump campaign word theft matter? Of course not. Next to the stuff he’s gotten away with so far, this is like taking an extra M&M out of a candy bowl without asking first. The guy is good enough, he might even work it into his speeches and get cheers for his efficiency. “Who has time to make sure every word I say is mine? How PC can you get? There’s just not enough time. I’m too busy Making America Great Again. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A.” (The crowd goes wild.)

This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2016.

31 replies on “Trump Earns an F for Plagiarism. If This Was College, Someone Would Say, “Get Him Out of Here!””

  1. David, once again this article proves that you are not sure of anything. And Joe Biden is the current VP.

    “Trump picked up Carson staffers when he left the race, so one of them might have done the cut-and-paste from what was already on the Carson hard drive, with a few variations. “

    If Carson approved of it, what is your problem with it?

  2. Let’s see. The voters giving Trump solid wins in almost every primary around the nation appear not to care about the fact that Trump’s assertions that he didn’t encourage the use of violence at his rallies could be easily disproved by video recordings of what he had actually said at rallies:
    http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004269364/trump-and-violence.html?playlistId=1194811622182&region=video-grid&version=video-grid-thumbnail&contentCollection=Times+Video&contentPlacement=8&module=recent-videos&action=click&pgType=Multimedia&eventName=video-grid-click

    …and it appears that they don’t care that he encouraged the use of violence against protesters at rallies in the first place. (Watch the crowd cheering in response to his remarks in the video linked above.)

    Will they care about something like plagiarism? No.

  3. Sanders supporters continue to show their ignorance. Both parties acknowledge that our tax laws have forced businesses to leave, yet Sanders promises to raise taxes costing all of us more jobs. Please think it over. His economics are delusional.

  4. I wonder:

    If H.T. Sanchez plagiarized something or lied about something, would Safier report it to the public?

    If a TUSD Board candidate Safier endorsed was caught misrepresenting what is going on in the district to the public, would Safier report it to the public, so accurate information about a Board candidate could properly inform the constituency’s voting behaviors?

    My educated guess on both of the above is, “No.”

    Yet the rhetorical framing on Safier’s blog posts continues to imply that he cares about “PRINCIPLES” and believes statements like “PLAGIARISM IS WRONG.” It’s been said before in these comment streams and will no doubt be said again: It’s not “PRINCIPLES” you care about when you don’t apply them uniformly.

  5. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, no matter the lies and manufactured smear campaigns your puppet masters push, it’s Trump 2016 all the way.

    Lugenpresse.

  6. This is minor compared to Joe Biden’s plagiarizing from a law review while Biden was a 1L at Syracuse Law.

  7. Here’s something to be enraged over: a candidate swears to rein in the banks and Wall Street and then accepts tens of millions in speakers fees and SuperPAC donations from the same crowd…and then refuses to reveal what was said in those speeches to the banksters.

    Nothing to compare with two imbeciles using each others ramblings in campaign literature but still worth mentioning.

  9. Never underestimate the gullibility/stupidity of the American voter. I’m about to drop gullibility from the previous comment.

  10. Oh, steaming Trumpers. Are you really that afraid of the rest of us? That angry too?
    And you, Old Pueblo Whatever-it-is-you-are. Signing off with a Nazi-era dig at the press? You are nothing but classy.
    What are you going to do when the candied yam gets his ass handed to him in the general?

  11. Trump can get away with saying just about anything when he is on the stump. I agree with Republican Mitt Romney when he said that past tax returns just might make a big difference in the way Trump is perceived by people who actually vote in that big election after this weird circus parade of primaries. What Trump doesn’t want us all to know is what we all really need to know. And yet he continues to stonewall.

  12. Thinking Aloud

    The truth? You can’t handle the truth! That goes equally for Trump’s tax records and Hillary’s transcripts of her tete a tetes with her Wall Street benefactors.

    So let’s take a look at the least wealthy candidate’s tax return

    http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics…

    Transcripts of his speeches to Wall Street denizens are not available…obviously.

  13. ” Candied yam gets his ass handed to him”. Classy. If a Republican did what Biden did he’d be tried and hung by the liberal media.

  14. Deflect all you want, Rick Spanier, I just want the tax returns out in front for all to see – a reasonable expectation. Otherwise it is what it is: an evasion of responsibility, and evasion usually has a dirty, no-good motive. But if we must go back to HRC, then I think you’re right about Wall Street. She still refuses to consider reinstating Glass-Steagall, the most destructive act of a president in modern history.

  15. Don’t wanna bunch your panties, CW13. But you’re not my go-to guy on what is and isn’t classy.

  18. Yeah, but you’ll get all the likes. Not too many people around here appreciate my sense of humor.

  20. “Old Pueblo Whatever-it-is-you-are. Signing off with a Nazi-era dig at the press? “

    Could not bring yourself to acknowledge me as a Veteran you coward? Another Nazi dig, how original, do they program you or do you willingly upload the marxist software to parrot Soros’ slogans?

    An ACTUAL NAZI – Soros, funds Hillary, Cruz and Kasich. Any more comments? Any thing else your masters want you to regurgitate?

    I’ll be at the Trump Convention this weekend, come find me.

  21. Jonathan, I don’t think both parties AGREE tax laws have cost us businesses. Some of us ignorant democrats actually are pretty intelligent. We know big companies break into smaller companies to avoid paying any taxes, plus that slick tax inversion program, like Pfizer relocating to Ireland not only to cheat it’s customers out of tax revenue, but also to get control of cosmetic botox patent — The top 12 corporations in America not only didn’t pay taxes but got refunds on money they didn’t pay, amounting to billions. It isn’t taxes sending business overseas, it’s those 25 cents per hour jobs. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that Bush offered business a 5% tax rate, which they took and instead of creating the promised jobs, they used the savings to buy back their own stock. Trump stands in front of a crowd and promises to bring back jobs while wearing a suit and tie from his own brand, all of which are made in China. Eisenhower taxed the rich 90%, with an effective tax rate of 70%, and they prospered. So did the country.

  22. Chelo. I couldn’t agree more. Be happy you have me. 90% of your readers would probably laugh if they learned I wrecked my bike and ended up in the hospital. But, I stir up interest. I annoy people and that makes them comment. Do you realize how many people wouldn’t bother to comment about Tammy Danehy’s nonsense unless I got them riled up. You could ban me tomorrow and life would go on. Do yourself a favor. Don’t take yourself ( or me ) so seriously.

  23. Sorry, OPV. All I can acknowledge is that you’re an ignorant, hateful tool. I have to take your word on it for the rest.
    Nice bit of macho bluster tossed in at the end as well, tiger.

  25. And CW13, for what it’s worth, to laugh at or make light of injury to others cheapens us all. Political differences aside, here’s to a speedy recovery.

  26. Peabo. I guess my poor grammar strikes again. What I meant was IF I totaled my Harley and got hurt in the process most readers would probably laugh as I’m not exactly adored around here. Not that I ever expected to be. I’m a big mouth, right winger who in the past won many verbal battles with commenters on the left. Not all, but more than my fair share as I can be verbally tough when I want to be. Growing up in the Bronx and working open steel with hair down to my shoulders in N.Y. tends to do that. I assure you that Lady is in one piece and in a little while her and I will be in the wind.
    Thanks for caring. I propose that from now on when we lock horns ( and I’m sure we will) let’s do it like gentlemen.
    .

  30. I love your column for its truth and insight. Your comments on education are right on the money (literally). Keep writing. I tweet nearly everything you put out @ShirleyWill3 and am retired after 34 years in education. Thank you for keeping on!!!

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