Ivanka’s Hyderabad speech kicks up row

Hyderabad: Ivanka Trump’s key­note address delivered at the inaugural session of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) kicked up row in the US with Newsweek magazine saying that the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump and his senior advisor delivered a partly-recycled speech at the global gathering held here.

On Tuesday evening, Ivanka made a 20-minute speech, making a passionate plea for better policies for women entrepreneurs and women empowerment. Her talk was preceded by a three-minute welcome address by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and followed by a 20-minute inaugural speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, kicking off the proceedings for the three-day conclave that attracted 1,500 delegates from 150 countries, with women making up 52 per cent.

“Several lines the 36-year-old delivered (on) Tuesday had been directly pulled from her poorly attended November 2 (2017) speech in Tokyo, where she attended the World Assembly for Women alongside Japanese President Shinzo Abe,” Newsweek said in its article. The US-based magazine’s headline initially said Trump’s daughter delivered a plagiarized speech. But it changed the headline later, replacing the word ‘plagiarized’ with ‘recycled’.

The magazine cited a sentence "When women work, it creates a unique multiplier effect" from her Hyderabad speech, saying that she used the same exact line in her Tokyo speech. It further said her words continued to mirror the speech she gave just a few weeks ago, citing: "Women are more likely than men to hire other women, and to give them access to capital, mentorship and networks. Women are also more likely to reinvest their income back in their families and communities."

The magazine further cited how Ivanka recited her Tokyo speech nearly word for word. "After my father’s election, I saw an opportunity to leave my businesses for the privilege of serving our country and empowering all Americans—including women—to succeed," Trump was quoted saying in Tokyo. She repeated this in Hyderabad as well, it observed.

The magazine further said: “The city of Hyderabad had been anticipating White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump's speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit for months, banning the act of begging in the streets, rounding up the homeless. It may have seemed safe to assume the first daughter's speechwriters were working overtime as well, preparing a robust keynote address”.

But It appeared the breadth of her talking points were recycled from the previous speech she gave at Tokyo, Newsweek explained. Of course, Ms Trump is far from the first person to pull from their old speeches. However, the repetitive lines could show where the first daughter's focus lies in the White House, it said.

By P Madhusudhan Reddy