Joe Biden's Speech Was Weirdly Similar To Jack Layton's Dying Words To Canada

Copying someone is the most sincere form of flattery, right? At the Democratic National Convention on August 20, Joe Biden's Jack Layton reference may not have been intentional but people definitely noticed. The presidential candidate's speech had people remembering the late Canadian leader. 

In accepting the nomination to be the Democrat's nominee for the upcoming federal election in the U.S., Joe Biden said "Let us begin you and I together, one nation under God. United in our love for America." 

The next bit is where people started having deja vu.

"United in our love for each other, for love is more powerful than hate, hope is more powerful than fear and light is more powerful than dark," Biden said. 

This line gained a lot of attention on social media, with many people drawing comparisons to Jack Layton, the NDP leader who died from cancer in 2011. 

Some of his last words to Canada were "my friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

On Twitter people had mixed reactions to the message. 

Many praised Biden, with one user saying "Joe Biden emulating Jack Layton is very promising, he was one of our best."

However, a number of people were mad at the move, calling it plagiarism and saying the former vice president stole the line. 

It is also being revealed that Layton may have been inspired by another politician himself. 

In 1916, then Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier gave a speech about unity ahead of the war and used the line "faith is better than doubt and love is better than hate."

The Canadian Encyclopedia even claims that Jack Layton was actually referencing this in his final words in 2011. 

Whether the reference was intentional or not, with those words Joe Biden is officially in the running for president and is set to face off against Donald Trump in the polls late this year.