Trump Campaign Chairman Denies Melania Trump Plagiarism Allegations

Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort flatly denied any allegations Melania Trump lifted last night's GOP convention speech from Michelle Obama's in 2008, claiming such an act would be "crazy."

"There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech," Manafort told Chris Cuomo on CNN's "New Day." "These were common words and values that she cares about her family, things like that."

"She was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that," Manafort added. "To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy."

Melania Trump's speech quickly came under criticism when it was discovered that the parts about her upbringing and imparting values to the next generation bore remarkable similarities to Michelle Obama's speech in 2008.

Melania Trump told NBC News' Matt Lauer that she wrote the speech with "as little help as possible." But the Trump campaign released a statement after allegations of plagiarism emerged. Unlike Manafort, there was no outright denial of the possibility she had borrowed some ideas.

"In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking," the statement said.

Manafort also suggested on CNN that Hillary Clinton was insinuating the plagiarism allegations.

"This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton how she seeks out to demean her and take her down," Manafort told CNN. "It's not going to work."