House Candidate Can’t Explain Apparent Plagiarism of Lindsey Graham’s Website: ‘It Was Never My Intent’
A Republican House candidate in California has some explaining to do after his campaign website contains multiple instances of apparent plagiarism.
As of Friday, he had yet to offer a clear answer as to why some of his messages to voters are mirror copies found on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) 2020 re-election website.
Greg Raths is running a campaign to represent California’s 40th congressional district.
“I’ll ensure that Orange County remains a safe, prosperous, and great place to live and raise a family. That takes responsible and experienced leadership,” Raths vows on his website. “You have my word.”
There are questions about whether Raths’ word is his own, thanks to reporting from Fox News.
The network cross-referenced snippets from the candidate’s website with Graham’s. What they found were numerous examples of what looks like blatant plagiarism.
Fox News reported:
“Lower taxes. Less regulation. A smaller, smarter, more efficient government. Those are the values and priorities Greg Raths will fight for in Washington as your Congressman,” the Raths website said as of Friday morning.
“Lower taxes. Less regulation. A smaller, smarter, more efficient government. Those are the values and priorities Lindsey Graham has fought for as a senator in Washington,” Graham’s website said in 2020.
Another apparent instance of plagiarism concerns Raths’ views on jobs and the economy:
“Greg Raths understands that the way to create jobs and build a strong economy is to let Americans keep more of what they earn and get the government out of the way,” the Raths website said Friday.
“Lindsey Graham understands that the way to create jobs and build a strong economy is to let Americans keep more of what they earn and get the government out of the way,” Graham’s site said in 2020.
There are numerous other examples of identical or nearly-identical language found on Graham’s archived 2020 website.
As of Friday evening, all are still on Raths’ website. The candidate told Fox News he is unsure how it happened. He explained his staffers might be responsible, and also noted he agrees with Graham on many issues.
“I work with several staffers who give me inputs to my webpage content and some of that data may have come from another conservative candidate’s website,” he told Fox News. “Although I agree with Senator Graham on several issues, it was never my intent to use his verbiage on my site.”
