Michelle Obama's Ex-Speechwriter Reveals Her First Reaction To Melania Trump's Plagiarism

Viewers who were listening to Melania Trump's speech during the opening night of the 2016 Republican National Convention likely thought her words seemed oddly familiar. Perhaps they couldn't place where, if anywhere, they had originally come from, but something didn't seem completely original. Was Melania guilty of plagiarism?

In the end, everyone would learn that Melania had, in fact, nearly copied and pasted part of Michelle Obama's 2008 speech from her Democratic National Convention into her own. Now, Michelle's ex-speechwriter, Sarah Hurwitz, opens up about the plagiarism.

READ: Michelle Obama Fought With Barack About This While Writing Her Book 'Becoming'

When Hurwitz heard the 2016 speech, which used very similar phrases to the 2008 one that she helped write for the "Becoming" author, what was her initial reaction? Simply put, "Oh. God." Elaborating on the public error, she said, "Making that kind of mistake is every speechwriter's worst nightmare."

The moment did not pass Hurwitz by without provoking a bit of reflection as to how working for the former First Lady made her feel. "I just felt this moment of gratitude that we had the most amazing fact-checkers who scrubbed every line of every speech. It was so important to the Obamas to always be accurate and always tell the truth to the American people." Continuing, she added, "It was this incredible concern for accuracy and honesty and truth that we lived by each day."

As for the famous "When they go low, we go high line," she approached the topic before People even had a chance. "I did not write that line - she came up with it. My contribution was typing it," she firmly stated, adding that she feels "very guilty" when people give her credit for the phrase.

Of course, Michelle doesn't have as much of a need for a speechwriter nowadays as she has changed course to go other directions in her life, but one can assume that aside from earning impressive titles the former First Lady also spends her time helping Sasha determine which sorority to join at the University of Michigan.