Why Netizens Were Once Convinced Donald Trump Copied Reese Witherspoon’s ‘Legally Blonde’ Speech

A resurfaced clip of Donald Trump allegedly copying an iconic Legally Blonde speech is making the rounds on the internet. The clip, which features Trump when he made an appearance back in 2017 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, was suspiciously similar to parts of actress Reese Witherspoon's iconic speech towards the end of the movie. The user who shared the video wrote in the X caption, "Want to see something f***ing bonkers? Trump ripped off Elle’s commencement speech from LEGALLY BLONDE. Dude. You are such an embarrassment to this nation."

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, often at loggerheads with the former president, edited parts of the clip together to make the suspicion stronger. Social media was, and remains, convinced of the claim that Trump copied the speech. Fallon played out clips from both speeches to bolster his argument. The montage focused on the words and phrase patterns common in the two speeches, HuffPost reported.

While Trump stated in his address, "Passion, courage in your convictions," Witherspoon states in the film, "It is with passion, courage of conviction." Trump said to the students in the clip, "We must go forth into the world," while Witherspoon says, "We take our next steps into the world." Trump also said, "Most importantly, be true to yourself," while Witherspoon advises, "Most importantly, have faith in yourself." Just as Witherspoon exclaims, "We did it!" towards the end of her speech, Trump, seemingly satisfied with his effort, concluded by saying, "I did it."

Still, it would be inaccurate to claim that Trump exactly copied the Legally Blonde speech. Ultimately, the concepts of courage, passion, and conviction are well-known cliches in several commencement addresses around the nation. The Tonight Show crew's clever editing also gives the impression that the two addresses are far more similar than they really are. However, it did remind social media of the time former First Lady Melania Trump was involved in a plagiarism controversy. 

Melania's speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention included passages taken from a speech made by preceding first lady Michelle Obama, for which her scriptwriter later accepted responsibility. The situation was explained in a statement by Meredith McIver, a staff writer for the Trump Organization who collaborated with Melania Trump on the address.

“A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama,” McIver said. “Over the phone, she read me some passages of Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.” Then, according to McIver, she neglected to confirm the quotes they had chosen to counter Obama's addresses. “This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as Mrs. Obama,” McIver said. “I meant no harm.”