title:  WATCH: Joy Reid Has PERFECT Response To Melania Trump’s Plagiarized Speech
text: As conservatives rushed to find excuses for Melania Trump s plagiarized speech at the RNC Convention on Monday night, Joy Reid pointed out the hypocrisy.The festivities got off to a rocky start on the first day of the convention, which is definitely not what the Republican Party had in mind.Melania Trump auditioned to be the First Lady by stealing part of Michelle Obama s DNC Convention speech from 2008, and it s pretty obvious that the similarities are not just a coincidence.Here are passages of both speeches side by side via the New York Times.Ms. Trump, Monday night: From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. Mrs. Obama, in her 2008 speech: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don t know them, and even if you don t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children   and all children in this nation   to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. Clearly, this is not just a mistake, but Trump apologists and even members of the media are blaming speechwriters and campaign staff even though Melania Trump told Matt Lauer prior to the convention that she wrote it herself. So Melania is either a liar or lazy or both.And the hypocrisy was too much for Joy Reid to stand by and say nothing. Reid pointed out that if Michelle Obama s speech had been plagiarized she would not have been given a pass. I ll start by quoting a guy called Tom Nichols, who s a conservative and very prominent on Twitter, who said,  Ask yourself if Michelle Obama would have been given a pass had she done the same thing in 2008?  I think we re all very quickly passing the responsibility onto staff. Clearly, this is a campaign that is poorly staffed. I think that has been clear for a long time. But they sent Melania Trump over to Matt Lauer to say that she wrote it [the speech]. But we re immediately dismissing the idea that she had anything to do with it. I doubt that we would dismiss the idea that Michelle Obama had anything to do with it.She s an adult woman. She s grown up. She has participated in the delivery of this speech. She gave the speech. So I think you have to give responsibility   sure, to the staff, the campaign management has been poor here   but Melania Trump did give the speech and Michelle Obama wouldn t have gotten a pass. Here s the video via VidMe.Indeed, conservatives would have howled in rage had Michelle Obama plagiarized her speech. They would have said that it proved she is unqualified to be First Lady and they would not have tolerated any excuse. Let s face it, the difference here is that Melania Trump is the wife of the Republican nominee and her skin is white and that somehow makes it okay that she plagiarized her speech. Once again, conservatives demonstrate clearly that they are hypocrites who don t have original thoughts.Featured image via video screen capture