The Slatest

Rachel Maddow Catches Rand Paul Plagiarizing Gattaca’s Wikipedia Page

During a Monday rally for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, Rand Paul took to the stage and dropped some 1990s movie knowledge, using the plot of Gattaca to paint a bleak future where a combination of abortion and scientific breakthroughs lead to the practice of eugenics.

One problem (other than the obvious issue that he doesn’t seem to have mentioned how awesome that movie is!): The Kentucky senator appears to have lifted his description almost verbatim from the movie’s Wikipedia page. MNSBC’s Rachel Maddow flagged the apparent plagiarism last night. Here are the relevant passages:

1) Rand Paul: “In the movie Gattaca––in the not-too-distant future, eugenics is common. And DNA plays a primary role in determining your social class.”

Wikipedia: “In the not-too-distant future, liberal eugenics is common and DNA plays the primary role in determining social class.”

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2) Rand Paul: “Due to frequent screenings, Vincent faces genetic discrimination and prejudice. The only way to achieve his dream of being an astronaut is he has to become what’s called a ‘borrowed ladder.’”

Wikipedia: “Due to frequent screening, Vincent faces genetic discrimination and prejudice. The only way he can achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut is to become a ‘borrowed ladder.’”

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3) Rand Paul: “He assumes the identity of a Jerome Marrow, a world-class swimming star whose genetic profile is said to be ‘second to none,’ but he’s been paralyzed in a car accident…”

Wikipedia: “He assumes the identity of Jerome Eugene Marrow, a former swimming star with a genetic profile ‘second to none,’ who had been injured in a car accident…”

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4) Rand Paul: “Jerome ‘buys’ his identity, uses his DNA—his blood, his hair, his tissue, his urine—to pass the screening.”

Wikipedia: “Vincent ‘buys’ Jerome’s identity and uses his ‘valid’ DNA in blood, hair, tissue, and urine samples to pass screening.”

Maddow’s staff reached out to Paul’s office for an explanation, but didn’t hear back. For what it’s worth, Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski was quick to show that Gattaca’s Wikipedia page had not been changed between Paul’s appearance in Virginia and when Maddow went on the air last night. Watch the full Maddow segment here.

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This post has been updated.