Photo Credits: Wiki Media
Melania Trump’s snafu on opening night of the Republican National Convention 2016 is a big deal.
For starters, Donald Trump broke protocol by opening the convention with such a grand presence. Usually, the convention builds up to the introduction of the presumed presidential nominee later in the week.
But Trump is different. He presented himself and his family on center stage on opening night. The showcase of the evening was Melania Trump.
Melania, sauntered onto the stage with her Playboy model physique.
Momentarily, she dazzled convention goers with her awkwardly structured English and European accent. Then she came to the part of her speech that sounded eerily like the speech the current First Lady, Michelle Obama gave to Democratic Party delegates at the 2008 Convention in Colorado. Mrs. Obama was introducing her husband, then Senator, Barack H. Obama, the Democratic Nominee for President.
Beside, the legal issue, that it is unlawful to steal intellectual property that belongs to another person, Melania’s blunder raises questions over whether Donald Trump has the attention to details that the American people have come to expect of their Chief Executive.
It is inexcusable that the wife of the presumptive Republican nominee would have been given material lifted from a very public speech from the wife of the president that her husband says has done a horrible job.
Far be it from me to give advice to the Grand Old Party, but I cannot resist this one piece of advice:
If the GOP needs a reason to ditch Donald J. Trump before granting him the nomination at their convention this week, now is the time and last night’s debacle by Melania Trump is the final reason.
What Melania’s introduction to the American public proves is that the Donald Trump machine is not ready for primetime. He is a disaster, a comedy of errors if you will, just waiting to happen. The only way Donald Trump will become president is that he backs into the presidency through the door of the House of Representatives. This is a real possibility given that Secretary Hillary Clinton stills faces a fractured and split progressive wing of the Democratic Party and Green Party candidate Jill Green is picking up support from disgruntled Bernie Sanders supporters.
Ironically, 2016 should be a bellwether year for the GOP. Usually, when a political party has held the White House for two consecutive terms the election is ripe for the other party to win. However, the Republican Party has failed thus far to present a candidate strong enough to beat a battered and bruised Hillary Clinton.
Melania Trump’s speech has given GOP stalwarts the ammunition they need to ditch Trump. They will have to act quickly as only a few days remain to pick a traditional candidate, one skilled in the minutia of framing a national run for president.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.