September 27, 2016

Donald Trump Fires Back at Former Miss Universe Winner He Once Called “Miss Piggy”

“She gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.”


The morning after Hillary Clinton confronted Donald Trump with his own words describing former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado as “Miss Piggy,” the Republican presidential candidate doubled down on his disparaging remarks by calling Machado’s past weight gain a “real problem.”

“She gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday morning. “Not only that, her attitude, we had a real problem with her. So, Hillary went back into the years and she found this girl and talked about her like she was Mother Teresa, but it wasn’t quite that way.”

He went on to attribute Clinton’s mention of Machado during the first presidential debate as an attempt to stay ahead in national polls.

Shortly after the debate wrapped up on Monday, the Clinton campaign released a web video featuring Machado where she described Trump as a frightening figure who routinely bullied her about her appearance. In one incident, Machado claims Trump once ambushed her with reporters who filmed her while she exercised—an experience she said left her scarred with eating disorders.

Machado announced that she recently became a US citizen and will be voting for Clinton this November.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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