Twitter, ‘lies’ and videotape
Trump shames beauty queen in pre-dawn tweet storm
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Plunging deeper into campaign controversy, Donald Trump publicly shamed a former beauty queen on Friday for her “disgusting” sexual past and then – in one of presidential history’s more bizarre moments – encouraged Americans to watch a “sex tape” he said would support his case.
Even many of Trump’s supporters shook their heads at his latest outburst, which could further hurt him among the nation’s women, many of them already skeptical, whose votes he’ll badly need to win election.
“Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?” read a missive from Trump posted on Twitter at 5:30 a.m. That referred to 1996 Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, a Venezuela-born woman whose weight gain he has said created terrible problems for the pageant he formerly owned.
Unsurprisingly, Trump’s predawn tweet-storm ricocheted across the campaign trail.
Trump’s campaign accused the media and Hillary Clinton of colluding to set him up for fresh condemnation, to which Clinton retorted, “His latest twitter melt- A tweet from Donald Trump encourages people to watch a “sex tape” of a former beauty pageant who he has railed against since a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton on Monday. down is unhinged, even for him.” traditional political norms, the asked, “stays up all night to smear
Machado took to Facebook to tirade seemed like the opposite a woman with lies and conspiracy say his tweets were part of a patof what was needed to win over theories?” tern of “demoralizing women,” females, Hispanics and young Trump implored voters not to calling them “cheap lies with Americans whose support could believe news stories about his cambad intentions.” Planned Parentwell determine the election. paign citing anonymous sources. hood said it showed that Trump’s Shaming Machado over intimate “There are no sources, they are just “misogyny knows no bounds.” details from her past could be made up lies!” he tweeted. And Clinton said they showed particularly risky as Trump tries Yet even Trump’s most vocal alanew why someone with Trump’s to win over more female voters, lies seemed at a loss for words. temperament “should not be anymany of whom are turned away “He’s being Trump. I don’t have where near the nuclear codes.” by such personal attacks. It also any comment beyond that,” said
With less than 40 days left in the risks calling further attention to former House Speaker Newt Ginelection, Trump’s broadside threw the thrice-married Trump’s own grich, a top supporter. Generally his campaign into a fresh round of history with women. chatty and occasionally critical of second-guessing the candidate’s Charges of lying flew back and Trump, Gingrich said tersely that instincts and confusion about forth. Trump sometimes does “strange what to do next. To believers in What kind of a man, Clinton things,” but that Clinton lies. “I’ll let you decide which is worse for America.”
But Trump’s inner circle followed his lead by refusing to concede any missteps. Trump didn’t mention the tweets Friday evening as he rallied supporters in Michigan. Instead, he returned to Twitter to invoke Clinton’s famous ad from her 2008 campaign portraying her as the best candidate to pick up an urgent call at the White House at 3 a.m.
“For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o’clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call!” Trump wrote.
Machado has been thrust to centre stage in the campaign since Clinton noted Monday in the first debate that Trump had mocked her publicly for gaining weight after she won Miss Universe. If that was a trap laid by Clinton, the irrepressible Trump dug himself deeper the next day by saying Machado’s “massive” weight gain had been “a real problem.”
That gave Clinton’s campaign the opening it wanted. Her team circulated videos featuring Machado accusing Trump of destroying her self-confidence and arranged for reporters to interview her, just as many voters were starting to cast early ballots. Clinton’s spokesman said she called Machado Friday to thank her for her courage.
Said Trump spokeswoman Jessica Ditto: “This is the single biggest co-ordinated media attack in history.”