Mike Pence caught copying lines directly from old Trump speech: report

Former Vice President Mike Pence reportedly lifted lines directly from his old running mate's speech.

Pence, who is thought to be mulling a bid for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, gave the controversial speech in New Hampshire this week. But the transcript was oddly reminiscent of a speech from Trump almost four years ago, according to Politico's report.

"According to the remarks that were prepared for delivery to the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, Pence was set to declare the following:

'If we want our families and communities to prosper, America must be the best place on earth to work, invest, innovate, build, master a trade, or start a business. We want companies to move to America, stay in America, and hire American workers,'" the outlet reported.

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But this is almost word for word taken from a Trump speech, as Politico describes:

"The two-sentence passage is almost identical to words Trump uttered in a speech to the New York Economic Club on Nov. 12, 2019, according to an archived transcript of his remarks from the White House:

'If we want our families and communities to prosper, America must be the best place on earth to work, invest, innovate, build, pursue a career, hone a craft, or start a business. We want companies to move to America, stay in America, and hire American workers,'" Politico reported.

There were some changes after that point in the speech, Politico noted.

"It is not clear if Pence delivered the remarks as prepared, as the event was not live-streamed. Pence’s and Trump’s speeches did diverge after that passage. 'We want every American to be able to afford their American dreams,' Pence said in his prepared remarks 'But for millions of Americans today, the American Dream is slipping further and further out of reach with each passing day.'

In contrast, Trump in 2019 said 'My mission is to put our country on the very best footing to thrive, excel, compete and to win,' Politico reported.