Hahahaha, the “My Little Pony” defense:

Appearing Tuesday on MSNBC, Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer quoted the children’s television show, as well as singers Akon and John Legend, to explain why portions of Trump’s convention speech lined up so closely with Obama’s words, arguing that an online search for any line in the speech would turn up similar phrases.

“Melania Trump said, ‘You work hard for what you want in life.’ Akon said, ‘Work hard for what you get in life.’ John Legend said, ‘Work hard.’”

“You’re quoting Akon and John Legend?” asked MSNBC’s Craig Melvin.

“Hold on, it’s getting better,” said Spicer. “Melania Trump said, ‘The strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.’ Twilight Sparkle from ‘My Little Pony’ said, ‘This is your dream, anything you can do in your dreams.”

Of course short phrases like “work hard” are going to appear all over the place and are not in themselves indicators of plagiarism. The longer the passage, the more likely plagiarism has occurred. The mathematical probability of Melania (or whoever) writing two paragraphs that are almost identical to Michelle’s are so slim that responsible pundits of all backgrounds have conceded that this was indeed plagiarism.