The Slatest

Melania Trump Cyberbullying Booklet Appears to Be Copied From FTC Document Released During Obama Administration

Two side-by-side booklet cover pages that appear identical except for their titles.
The FTC’s 2014 pamphlet and Melania Trump’s 2018 version.
Screen shots/Illustration by Slate

Two years ago, Melania Trump copied several lines in her Republican National Convention speech from an address Michelle Obama delivered in 2008. On Monday, Melania Trump formally announced the launch of an anti-cyberbullying initiative. As part of that initiative, the White House released a booklet that, in the words of Melania’s signed introduction, is intended to “help kids act thoughtfully and kindly” online. And, as BuzzFeed News’ Ryan Mac points out, it appears that the booklet was almost completely copied from a document released by the Federal Trade Commission in 2014.

Above, you can see the two documents’ covers. Here’s another side-by-side:

Side-by-side booklet pages that are identical but for small graphical changes to images of cell phones.
Screen shots/Illustration by Slate

Hey, they changed it a little! But … they didn’t change it that much.