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This conspiracy theory about Melania Trump’s “speechwriter” is totally crazy but it might be true

Published 08:46 21 Jul 2016 BST

Updated 11:00 21 Jul 2016 BST

Her

This conspiracy theory about Melania Trump’s “speechwriter” is totally crazy but it might be true

Just when you thought this story couldn't get any more ludicrous...

So we've all had great fun this week poking fun at Donald Trump and his wife Melania for a speech she gave at the Republican National Convention that seemed to pay more than an homage to words spoken by Michelle Obama in 2008. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.00.48

The pretty obvious plagiarism charge quickly caught on and the speech went viral, but the Trumps didn't do anything to quell the controversy. Indeed, a statement released the next day only seemed to confuse matters more: https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/755288206430576640 Then to add to the craziness, Republican strategist Sean Spicer invoked My Little Pony in his defence of Mrs Trump's lifting of the First Lady's words. https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/755455563979427840

"We're talking about 70 words, three passages," Spicer said. "Melania Trump said, 'The strength of your dreams and willingness to work for them'. Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony said, 'This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dreams, you can do now'."

Then yesterday, a member of Trump's staff named Meredith McIver fell on her sword and confessed to being the speechwriter who worked with Melania on the contentious address.

Via Facebook. “This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama,” the statement said. The statement added that McIver offered to resign, but that Mr. Trump told her “people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences.” Still with us? Good. Very soon after this statement appeared yesterday evening, doubts began to set in among social media users. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.32.14

It wasn't just that people doubted how much Meredith McIver had contributed to the speech. Some began to question whether or not "Meredith McIver" even actually existed. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.17.43

Donald Trump's history of "inventing" people to take the fall for problems is legendary. In the most famous incidents, it's believed Trump rang reporters himself using the aliases "John Miller" or "John Barron" to give puff quotes about "Donald Trump". The US presidential hopeful has always denied this, even though voice recordings later emerged in which "Miller" and "Barron" sound suspiciously like the millionaire businessman. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.25.42

The dodginess of this Meredith McIver story grew even more apparent for conspiracy watchers when it was noted that McIver's Facebook page had literally just been created yesterday. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.30.54

The Independent notes that McIver also has no verified Twitter account and no LinkedIn profile. However, she does appear to have "co-authored" several of Donald Trump's books with him, as a quick Amazon search shows. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.39.51

WHAT IS HAPPENING?! The #DoesMeredithMcIverExist story is likely going to rumble on for a while, because it's so utterly bizarre. In the meantime, we might as well have our fun with it. Screen Shot 2016-07-21 at 08.36.47

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Just when you thought this story couldn't get any more ludicrous...

Then yesterday, a member of Trump's staff named Meredith McIver fell on her sword and confessed to being the speechwriter who worked with Melania on the contentious address.