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Who said it: Melania Trump or Michelle Obama? Try our quiz
U.S. ELECTION 2016
EVAN ANNETT

This article was published more than 8 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Watch and compare Melania Trump’s speech in 2016 with Michelle Obama’s in 2008

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Donald Trump's wife is in some hot water after a speech Monday at the Republican National Convention appeared to lift passages from a 2008 speech by the current first lady, Michelle Obama. Here are some other notable remarks the two women have made. Can you tell who said what?

1 “I’m very wary of politics. I think he’s too much of a good guy for the kind of brutality, the skepticism.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this about her husband in a 1996 interview with journalist Mariana Cook.

2 “We are in the 21st century. I will be me. I will be different than any other first ladies. I will help women. I will help children. They are the future.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in February.

3 “He’s an amazing guy, and he really wants to bring America to the next level.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this about her husband to NBC’s Matt Lauer in an interview shortly before her convention speech on Monday.

4 “Every day, the people I meet inspire me ... every day, they make me proud ... every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this in September, 2012, in a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

5 “And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this in her 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

6 “He’s a hard worker. He’s kind. He has a great heart. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great negotiator. He’s telling the truth. He’s a great leader. He’s fair.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this in April at a rally for her husband’s campaign in Wisconsin.

7 Recalling her first meeting with her future husband: “If I give him my number, I’m just one of the women he calls. ... It tells you a lot from the man what kind of number he gives you. He gave me all of his numbers.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this in an April, 2016, profile by GQ magazine.

8 “That was one of the things I was worried about: How would politics affect this very decent, genuine, noble individual? And there is just something about his spirit that allows all that stuff to stay on the outside.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this of her husband in a 2013 profile by Vogue magazine.

9 “Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this on Twitter in April, 2012.

10 “I don’t try to change him. He’s an adult. He knows the consequences and so I let him be who he is. I give him my opinions, many, many times.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this of her husband in the February interview with Anderson Cooper.

11 “Nobody controls me. I travel with my husband when I can.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this in the 2016 GQ profile.

12 “The best revenge is success and good work.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this in June in an interview with Oprah Winfrey at the United State of Women summit.

13 On her political advice to her husband: “Nobody knows and nobody will ever know. Because that’s between me and my husband.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Trump said this in the 2016 GQ profile.

14 “[Sophie Grégoire Trudeau] is like my soul mate.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this in March when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife came for a visit to Washington.

15 “Be great. Build great lives for yourselves. Enjoy the liberties that you have in this great country. Pursue your own version of happiness. And please, please, always, always do your part to help others do the same.”
a. Michelle Obama
b. Melania Trump

Answer: Ms. Obama said this in a commencement address at City College of New York in June.

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Who said it: Boris Johnson or Donald Trump? Try our quiz They’re both blond, boisterous and only steps away from their respective countries’ highest seats of power.

THE PRESIDENTIAL SPOUSES, COMPARED

From the archives: Meet the political spouses of the 2016 primary season

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MELANIA TRUMP: A WOMAN OF FEW WORDS

Ms. Trump's speech on Monday was also remarkable because she hasn't generally been a visible presence with her husband on the campaign trail. Dubbed Mr. Trump's "silent partner" in a recent profile by The New York Times, Ms. Trump, a former model born in Slovenia, has usually stayed in the background. She didn't speak on her husband's behalf when he declared his candidacy last June; instead, Ivanka Trump, his daughter from a previous marriage, introduced him.

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort denied Tuesday that there was any wrongful use of Ms. Obama's words in Ms. Trump's convention speech. "Certainly, there's no feeling on her part that she did it," he said in a CNN interview. "What she did was use words that are common words."

With a report from Associated Press

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