Politico Magazine senior writer Michael Grunwald defended former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday for appearing to plagiarize parts of his climate change policy proposal without citations.
The Daily Caller News Foundation and CREDO Action found five specific examples of language from the proposal that were similarly phrased or identical from left-wing nonprofits.
Grunwald tweeted, “We’re supposed to be mad at Biden because he copied a few lines of his climate plan from environmental groups? That’s not ‘plagiarism.’ That’s ‘agreeing.'”
We’re supposed to be mad at Biden because he copied a few lines of his climate plan from environmental groups? That’s not “plagiarism.” That’s “agreeing.” “https://t.co/E2lR2oOuFB
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) June 4, 2019
“It’s a politician’s plan! Obviously, if I ever plagiarized an article I should be fired and shamed. But plagiarizing plans is what politics is about,” he added. “You should vote for the politician who plagiarizes the most plans you like.”
It’s a politician’s plan! Obviously if I ever plagiarized an article I should be fired and shamed. But plagiarizing plans is what politics is about. You should vote for the politician who plagiarizes the most plans you like.
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) June 4, 2019
Former Vice President Joe Biden runs up the steps onto the stage to begin the kickoff rally of his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidental nomination in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst.
In one example, Biden’s plan reads, “Carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) is a rapidly growing technology that has the potential to create economic benefits for multiple industries while significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions.” (RELATED: Artist Featured In Joe Biden’s ‘America’ Ad Actually From Denmark)
The language appears to be similar to Carbon Capture Coalition’s: “Its goal is to make carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) a widely available, cost-effective, and rapidly scalable solution to reduce carbon emissions to meet mid-century climate goals.”
Biden’s campaign defended itself and claimed that citations were accidentally left out of the final document.
“Several citations were inadvertently left out of the final version of the 22-page document. As soon as we were made aware of it, we updated to include the proper citations,” the campaign told Business Insider.