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Biden accused of plagiarizing Canadian leader Jack Layton’s last letter in his DNC acceptance speech

Although the words of the two were not identical, a number of people shared that the 77-year-old may have mimicked the deceased leader

Joe Biden is facing new plagiarism accusations after several viewers claimed that part of his Democratic National Convention (DNC) acceptance speech sounded similar to the words of a late Canuck party leader. On Thursday, August 20, Biden gave a 25-minute long speech, which was widely praised. But several people also pointed out that some of his lines relied heavily on Jack Layton, who was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011.

Before his death in 2011, Layton wrote an open letter to his fellow citizens. “My friends. Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair,” the letter read. While Biden’s Thursday address contained words, like: “Love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. Light is more powerful than dark.”

Although the words of the two politicians were not identical, a number of people shared their views on Twitter claiming the 77-year-old may have mimicked the deceased leader. Also, the speech in question came two days before the nine-year death anniversary of Layton. “A number of Canadians are struck by the similar parting words of Biden’s speech to the final words of Jack Layton’s farewell letter before his death,” Alexander Panetta, a correspondent for CBC’s Washington, tweeted.

One user replying to Panetta said: “Tomorrow will be the ninth anniversary of Jack's passing and that quote. So I'm choosing to see Biden's words as an early tribute. I don't think Jack would mind one bit.” “Nice stolen speech good Lord be original,” added another user.

However, this was not the first time Biden has faced plagiarism accusations. His campaign reportedly installed a $4,200 anti-plagiarism software program in 2019, but it seems the program also did not help him much this time.

In 1987, he had to withdraw his name from the presidential race after he reportedly lifted lines from the British politician Neil Kinnock in a debate. That year in August, he gave a speech that stated: “Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? Is it because I'm the first Biden in a thousand generations to get a college and a graduate degree that I was smarter than the rest?”

But listeners quickly pointed out at that time also that his words were very similar to that of Kinnock. Months earlier Biden’s speech, the 78-year-old UK Labor Party leader had famously said, “Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is his wife] Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because all our predecessors were thick?”

However. Biden later accepted his fault and said: “All I had to say was ‘Like Kinnock.’  If I'd just said those two words, 'Like Kinnock,' and I didn't. It was my fault, nobody else's fault.”

Meanwhile, in 2019 also, the Democratic Presidential nominee caught the negative attention as he reportedly ripped off lines from climate activist groups, and used them as his own while unveiling a Climate Change Plan. At the time, President Donald Trump also slammed him by tweeting: “Plagiarism charge against Sleepy Joe Biden on his ridiculous Climate Change Plan is a big problem, but the Corrupt Media will save him. His other problem is that he is drawing flies, not people, to his Rallies. Nobody is showing up, I mean nobody. You can’t win without people!”