memeorandum: Checking Patricia Smith's claims about Clinton and Benghazi (PolitiFact)

9:30 AM ET, July 19, 2016

Top Items:

Gregory Krieg / CNN:

Melania Trump's speech plagiarizes parts of Michelle Obama's — (CNN)At least one passage in Melania Trump's speech Monday night at the Republican National Convention plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2008. — Side-by-side comparisons …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, Take Town, WTVM-TV, ImmigrationProf Blog, KTLA, FOX News Radio, KTAR.com, fox13now.com, Joe.My.God., WFLA-TV, Mashable, BizPac Review and Politico

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Melania Trump's speech appears to have cribbed from Michelle Obama's in 2008 — In 2008, Michelle Obama was in the position in which Melania Trump found herself on Monday night, pressed into service giving a speech making the case for her husband's candidacy.

Discussion: Guardian, The Federalist, Deadline, Fox News Insider, Politicus USA, Jezebel, Weekly Standard, The Root, The Hayride, New Urban Legends, CBS Los Angeles, NBC News and Balloon Juice

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Chris Matthews: GOP ‘ruined’ evening by having ‘that woman’ speak on Benghazi — Patricia Smith — the mother of Sean Smith, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 — delivered a raw, emotional and unapologetic speech at the Republican National Convention that centered on one person: Hillary Clinton

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Politico

CNN:

Melania's moment — Cleveland (CNN)Melania Trump stepped onto center stage Monday for the highest-profile speech of her life, offering testimony about the character of her husband, Donald Trump, and saying he would never let America down. — The former fashion model …

Discussion: The Week, Joe.My.God., Independent Journal Review, Taylor Marsh, Mashable, SOOPERMEXICAN, Slate and Raw Story

PolitiFact:

Checking Patricia Smith's claims about Clinton and Benghazi — The opening night theme of the Republican National Convention was “Make America Safe Again,” with a parade of speakers who criticized Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration for leaving the nation weak and vulnerable.

Discussion: Washington Post and Politicus USA

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Donald Trump just can't yield the spotlight — CLEVELAND — Patricia Smith stood on the stage of the Republican National Convention and emotionally blamed the death of her son in Benghazi, Libya, on Hillary Clinton. Suddenly, Fox News Channel cut away to interview the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and The Hill

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Chaos erupts on GOP convention floor after voice vote shuts down Never Trump forces — CLEVELAND — The Republican party came within a whisker of reaching the unity it had long sought Monday. What it got instead was convention floor chaos. — After mounting for weeks …

New York Daily News:

SEE IT: Melania Trump's RNC speech appears to swipe lines from Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech — Melania Trump's first major stump speech for her husband and White House hopeful Donald Trump was supposed to be uplifting, but instead appeared to have lifted lines from First Lady Michelle Obama.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, MSNBC, The Daily Caller, LGBTQ Nation, NBC News, Hot Air, Hit & Run and Guardian

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Trump campaign denies Melania Trump plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech — Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Melania Trump “hit it out of the park” Monday night with her address to the Republican National Convention, remarks that Manafort said were not plagiarized in any way.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, Washington Times, The Week, CNN, ABC News and Joe.My.God.

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump dials into Fox to bash Kasich during convention action — As Pat Smith, the mother of one of the Americans killed in Benghazi tearfully addressed the Republican National Convention on Monday, Donald Trump phoned into Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's show and bashed John Kasich for not showing up to the confab.

Discussion: NPR, The Hill, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, ABC News and Plain Dealer

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

Melania Trump's RNC Speech Follows Michelle Obama's Nearly Verbatim — In her prime time speech at the Republican National Convention Monday evening, Donald Trump's wife Melania appeared to lift significant portions from a speech delivered by now-First Lady Michelle Obama …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and The Atlantic

New York Times:

Melania Trump's Speech Bears Striking Similarities to Michelle Obama's in 2008 — CLEVELAND — Melania Trump earned praise for her speech on Monday at the opening night of the Republican National Convention, but her remarks almost immediately came under scrutiny when striking similarities …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Outside the Beltway, Political Insider blog, Vocativ and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Tegna / WKYC-TV:
Utah delegate threatened in RNC bathroom

Discussion: RedState, The PolitiStick and The Right Scoop

New York Times:
It's Donald Trump's Convention. But the Inspiration? Nixon.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Atlantic

Nick Gass / Politico:
Melania Trump's prime-time speech was strikingly similar to Michelle Obama's

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gawker, ThinkProgress, RedState, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, WREG-TV, Raw Story, CNBC, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, The Right Scoop and Mother Jones

Michael Edison Hayden / ABC News:
Antonio Sabato Jr. Says He's ‘Absolutely’ Sure Obama's a Muslim After RNC Speech

Discussion: Raw Story

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: On the floor: Giuliani brings the house down

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Did Melania Trump include a Rickroll in the middle of her convention speech?

Discussion: Mediaite, Scripting News, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Verge

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
This mashup of Melania Trump reading text plagiarized from Michelle Obama is incredibly damaging.

Discussion: Eschaton, Allen B. West, Daily Wire, Mother Jones, The Week and Independent Journal Review

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
In a divided GOP, the lone uniter is Hillary Clinton

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
An ex-senator called Trump backers “brownshirts,” in case you wondered how the RNC's going

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, Mediaite and ABC News

Nick Gass / Politico:
Milwaukee sheriff at RNC: ‘Blue lives matter’

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, ABC News, Mediaite and Political Insider blog

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Melania's message: Donald Trump is ready to work for America

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

New York Times:
Rancor Reigns as Bitterly Divided Republicans Begin Their Convention

Discussion: Daily Wire, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Ohio Politics, The Daily Caller, LGBTQ Nation, Politicus USA and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
RNC Speaker Scott Baio Tweeted Meme Referring To Hillary Clinton As A C**t

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:
Republican Convention Floor Erupts in Chaos as Never-Trump Forces Thwarted

Discussion: New York Daily News, Politico, The American Spectator, Politicus USA, Joe.My.God., Lawyers, Guns & Money and Business Insider

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
5 Things to Know About Melania Trump

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and Hit & Run

BBC:

Germany axe attack: Assault on train in Wuerzburg — A teenage Afghan refugee armed with an axe and knife injured four people on a train in southern Germany before being shot dead by police, officials say. — Three people were seriously hurt and one suffered minor injuries in the attack in Wuerzburg, police said.

Discussion: CNBC, Vocativ, Telegraph, The American Spectator, The Last Refuge, myfox8.com, WNEP-TV, The Week, The Daily Caller, WREG-TV and Outside the Beltway

Daily Mail:
Horror as 19 people are hospitalised by 17-year-old Afghan refugee wielding an AXE and shouting …

Discussion: Power Line and Vox Popoli

Richard Wheatstone / Mirror.co.uk:
Germany train axe attack: Afghan teenage refugee shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ goes on bloody rampage hacking passengers

Discussion: Allen B. West, The Atlantic, RT, Fox 59 and The Right Scoop

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Castro violated Hatch Act by touting Clinton — (CNN)Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro violated a federal law against mixing official business with politics when he touted Hillary Clinton in an April interview with Yahoo's Katie Couric, the Office of Special Counsel said Monday.

Discussion: Hot Air and Mediaite

Vicki Needham / The Hill: HUD's Castro violated law with interview about Clinton

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Rep. Steve King wonders what ‘sub-groups’ besides whites made contributions to civilization — Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) offered an unusual defense of the racial homogeneity of his party during a panel on MSNBC Monday evening. — The group, led by Chris Hayes, was discussing …

Discussion: Informed Comment, Vox, Business Insider, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, ThinkProgress, Towleroad and Mashable

Sheriff David Clarke / The Hill:

This is a war, and Black Lives Matter is the enemy — Americans watching the news of the murders of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are observing a civil war unfold within our borders. A war between rule of law and anarchy-seeking hate. — The murders in Baton Rouge …

Discussion: CBS New York, Crime and Consequences Blog and AOL

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

What Has Happened to Rudy Giuliani? — He used to be a pragmatic moderate. Now he's spewing nonsense. — Exactly 20 years ago, as the Boston Globe's New York bureau chief, I interviewed Mayor Rudy Giuliani in his office in City Hall. The 1996 Republican Convention was going on in San Diego, and I asked him why he wasn't there.

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future