Former President Donald Trump's campaign accused Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) of plagiarism in his presidential announcement video.
Trump's campaign continued its attack on DeSantis's campaign Wednesday and took the angle that the Florida governor's campaign announcement video stole the phrase "great American comeback," featured prominently in the video, from Trump's 2020 State of the Union address.
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"Ron DeSantis Blatantly Plagiarizes President Trump's 'Great American Comeback,'" the Trump campaign Twitter account tweeted. The post included a video showing the announcement video and Trump's 2020 State of the Union address.
Ron DeSantis Blatantly Plagiarizes President Trump's "Great American Comeback" pic.twitter.com/8qOydliRZH
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 25, 2023
The Trump campaign only accused the governor of plagiarism over the phrase; there were no related complaints about the rest of the video.
Trump-aligned Make America Great Again Inc. spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt echoed the message.
DeSantis 2024 campaign message: “great American comeback”
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) May 25, 2023
Trump 2020 State of the Union: https://t.co/8ua0K1qEhc
The phrase was considered notable enough at the time to be quoted by the Trump White House account.
"Three years ago, we launched the Great American Comeback," the account tweeted, along with a video of the excerpt showing Trump using the phrase to describe his presidency up to that point.
"Three years ago, we launched the Great American Comeback." #SOTU pic.twitter.com/ABHYJRFzVN
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) February 5, 2020
However, some users disputed the idea that the similar phrases constituted plagiarism, pointing to the phrase being previously used in a 2014 Politico essay by retired Gen. David Petraeus. Others pointed to former President Ronald Reagan using Trump's signature slogan, "Make America Great Again," in the 1980s.
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Trump's campaign has jumped on several areas of DeSantis's presidential campaign announcement, including saying that choosing to announce via a Twitter Space was "out of touch" and that the ensuing technical difficulties showed he wasn't fit to be president.
"The stakes are too high, and the fight to save America is too critical to gamble on a first-timer who is clearly not ready for prime time. President Trump is the proven leader that will be ready on day one to turn the country around," Leavitt said.