Biden’s New Platform is Stolen!

Well, well, well. The leftist hypocrisy strikes again!

The latest example pins classy Melania Trump against Creepy Joe Biden.

Leftists have a habit of accusing Melania Trump of plagiarism. It started after Trump’s inauguration. Melania gave an eloquent speech highlighting the values she grew up with. Shortly after, Twitter followers drew parallels between Melania’s words and the words of Michelle Obama 8 years earlier.

If we’re being honest, there’s likely a simple explanation for the coincidence. Professional speech writers always comb these speeches carefully. Therefore, it seems plausible that the same writers touched the speeches of both women, even though both women wrote the bulk of their speeches themselves. They were still edited by the pros.

Fast forward to last May. Melania found herself in the hot seat once again.

The New York Times explains:

Melania Trump’s rollout this week of her “Be Best” initiative focusing on children was intended to give the first lady an agenda all her own. Instead, it revived accusations that Mrs. Trump’s ideas were really coming from somewhere else.

Observers on Twitter quickly pointed out that one of the primary materials with “Be Best” branding, a booklet on social media guidelines called “Talking With Kids About Being Online,” had been circulated by the Federal Trade Commission during the Obama era. As the story spread, Mrs. Trump’s communications director published an extraordinary statement on Tuesday that admonished the news media for reporting on the plagiarism claims.

“Our office will continue to focus on helping children, and I encourage members of the media to attempt to Be Best in their own professions,” the communications director, Stephanie Grisham, wrote, “and focus on some of the children and programs Mrs. Trump highlighted in her remarks yesterday.”

Ironically, Melania made it clear from the get-go that she was recycling some materials already in use by other government offices. Therefore, she never claimed the ideas were complete originals. Instead, Trump rebranded existing programs to help elevate them. That’s a far cry from stealing ideas.

Of course, liberals don’t know much about being the best versions of themselves. Thus, we’ve grown accustomed to the hypocrisy that typically plagues the left.

Enter Creepy Joe

Biden just publicized his new climate platform. And despite plagiarism criticisms thrown at the First Lady, Creepy Joe decided to engage in some borrowing of his own.

According to Fox News:

The apparent similarities were first flagged on Twitter by a progressive activist. By Tuesday afternoon, most of the examples in the Biden campaign platform had been updated online to include attribution to a third party.

“The paragraph in Joe Biden’s climate plan about carbon capture and sequestration includes language that is remarkably similar to items published previously by the Blue Green Alliance and the Carbon Capture Coalition,” Josh Nelson, the vice president of CREDOmobile, tweeted earlier in the day.

Nelson posted two examples of the campaign borrowing language from left-wing groups.

Biden’s platform said, “Carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) is a rapidly growing technology that has the potential to create economic benefits for multiple industries while significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”

But Nelson pointed out on Twitter that the Blue Green Alliance used that same language in a 2017 letter.

In another example, the campaign’s platform said, “Biden’s goal is to make CCUS a widely available, cost-effective, and rapidly scalable solution to reduce carbon emissions to meet mid-century climate goals.”

Nearly identical language appears on the website of the Carbon Capture Coalition, which said its “goal is to make carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) a widely available, cost-effective, and rapidly scalable solution to reduce carbon emissions to meet mid-century climate goals.”

No Comment

Of course, Biden didn’t directly answer the accusations. Instead, his team rushed to add a little disclaimer to Biden’s website. Thus giving credit to Blue Green Alliance and Carbon Capture Coalition respectively.

But Joe wasn’t quite smart enough to double check the rest of ‘his’ work. So naturally, more examples surfaced.

Fox continues:

The Daily Caller flagged a part from Biden’s platform that said, “Aviation accounts for nearly 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. And that portion is expected to increase. Unfortunately today, few low-carbon technologies or fuels have been developed to tackle this challenge.”

The liberal website Vox in January used similar language in a story that said, “Aviation accounts for about 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that share is poised to grow.”

In another example, the campaign said the “average American sewage pipe is 33 years old, with many pipes dating back 50 or even 100 years.” The website American Rivers has previously posted online that the “average American sewage pipe is 33 years old, with many pipes dating back 50 or even 100 years.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the Biden platform attributed the information to American Rivers.

The Biden campaign platform on Tuesday also said, “40 percent of the 567 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. live in Alaska, where the rapid pace of rising temperatures and melting sea ice and glaciers threaten the critical infrastructure and traditional livelihoods in the state.”

The Climate.gov website has strikingly similar language: “Of the 567 federally recognized tribes in the United States, 40 percent (229 tribes) live in Alaska Native communities. The rapid pace of rising temperatures, melting sea ice and glaciers, and thawing permafrost in Alaska is having a significant negative impact on critical infrastructure and traditional livelihoods in the state.”

By Tuesday, the platform had attributed the information “to the U.S. federal government.”

Do You See A Pattern Emerging?

I haven’t seen this many examples of plagiarism since my class did research papers in the seventh grade.

But here’s the real kicker. This isn’t Biden’s first rodeo. Plagiarism allegations derailed his 1988 run for the White House.

According to the Republican National Committee’s Steve Guest, Biden’s an old pro when it comes to cheating.

“During his 1988 campaign, Biden plagiarized campaign speeches from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock as well as Robert Kennedy. During law school, Biden plagiarized, too.”

In a statement earlier in the day, Biden announced his environmental plan, calling it “The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice.”

“We must take drastic action now to address the climate disaster facing the nation and our world,” Biden said.

I’m no expert, but I kinda think that last part sounds a bit Al Gore-ish. Or maybe it was AOC. They sound the same to me.

Still, I can’t help but find myself perplexed. All it takes to avoid accusations of plagiarism is to simply cite the source.

 

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