Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer on Tuesday quoted My Little Pony in a bid to prove Melania Trump's convention speech did not plagiarize first lady Michelle Obama.
Donald Trump's wife has been widely mocked for her Monday night speech, which featured an extensive section lifted from one Obama delivered at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
Speaking on CNN to Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday, Spicer accused the Hillary Clinton campaign of pushing the plagiarism allegations for political gain. (The similarities in the speeches were first highlighted on Twitter by Jarrett Hill, an independent journalist not affiliated with the Clinton campaign.)
Spicer said he had googled the phrase "You work hard for what you get in life" from Melania Trump's speech and found similar things uttered by singers John Legend and Kid Rock.
"Melania Trump said, 'The strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them," he continued. "Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony said, 'This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dream you can do now.'"
The quote comes from the 2015 My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "Do Princesses Dream Of Magic Sheep?".
"I mean, if we want to take a bunch of phrases and run them through a Google and say, 'Who else has said them?' I could come up with a list in five minutes. That's what this is," Spicer said.
"I just quoted Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony. She said something similar too, so did Mrs. Obama plagiarize her? I would never say something like that, but these are common phrases that were used over and over again."
Here's Melania Trump's line compared to Twilight Sparkle's.
And here's Spicer's full quote:
The speech was phenomenal. Her presence, her delivery was first rate, and I think a lot of people who've never probably heard Melania Trump last night were unbelievably blown away and impressed.
When it comes to the speech, let's actially put this in perspective and Sam [Clovis] did a really good job of laying the table. We had a 2,000 word statement. We're talking about 70 words, three passahges. And this idea of plagiarism, if we want to talk about it, let's talk about it.
Melania Trump said, 'You work hard for what you get in life.' John Legend said, 'Work hard to be anything you want in life.' Kid Rock said, 'Work hard to be anything you want in life.'
Melania Trump said, 'The strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them.' Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony said, 'This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dreams you can do now.'
I mean, if we want to take a bunch of phrases and run them through a Google and say, 'Who else has said them?' I could come up with a list in five minutes. That's what this is.
It's sad that we've taken this moment with the world introduction of Melania Trump and allowed the Clinton campaign to say, 'Hey, we googled a bunch of phrases and we matched it up three things that Mrs. Obama said.
...I just quoted Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony. She said something similar too, so did Mrs. Obama plagiarize her? I would never say something like that, but these are common phrases that were used over and over again."