Trump: I Thought of 'Make America Great Again'

Except, no, Ronald Reagan did
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 26, 2015 8:10 AM CDT
Trump: I Thought of 'Make America Great Again'
In this Jan. 24, 2014, file photo, Donald Trump speaks in Des Moines, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Donald Trump is making it difficult to take his latest possible presidential run seriously. His latest sound bite came this week in an interview with MyFox New York, during which he said, among other things, that actual presidential contender Ted Cruz ripped off one of his lines when he announced his 2016 campaign. "The line of 'Make America great again,' the phrase, that was mine, I came up with it about a year ago, and I kept using it, and everybody's now using it, they are all loving it," Trump said, per the Hill. "I don't know, I guess I should copyright it, maybe I have copyrighted it." (The way Cruz used it: "It's going to take a new generation of courageous conservatives to help make America great again, and I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight.") Just one problem, as Rolling Stone points out: Trump definitely didn't come up with the line.

Ronald Reagan was the one who used "Make America Great Again" in his presidential campaign—and he used it quite a lot, on buttons and posters and even in a television ad. And, writes Matt Taibbi, "I seem to remember Rick Perry using it as well, and I'd love it if readers could dig up the full record, because it would be amusing background for Trump's copyright application." Trump's still using the phrase; when he announced that he may or may not run for president again, he noted, "I am the only one who can make America truly great again." Meanwhile, in a familiar twist, Trump is questioning whether Cruz can even run, notes the Hill: "He was born in Canada. If you know and when we all studied our history lessons, you are supposed to be born in this country, so I just don't know how the courts will rule on this." (More Donald Trump stories.)

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