The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Trump branded ‘unhinged’ as he berates ex-beauty queen
Clinton attacks White House rival after his Twitter rant over Alicia Machado
US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has described a Donald Trump tweet attacking a former Miss Universe as “unhinged”, and said her Republican opponent’s temperament would be “dangerous for a president”.
The Democratic candidate said Mr Trump’s early-morning tweets accusing Alicia Machado of having a criminal record and a sex tape were “lies and conspiracy theories”.
She tweeted: “When something gets under Donald’s thin skin, he lashes out and can’t let go. This is dangerous for a president.”
Mr Trump shamed the 1996 Miss Universe winner Ms Machado – who was born in Venezuela – for her sexual history and encouraged Americans to check out what he called her “sex tape”.
A day after the Republican candidate made reference to former president Bill Clinton’s infidelities, Mr Trump also accused Hillary Clinton’s campaign of helping Ms Machado gain US citizenship.
Mr Trump offered no proof of the claim, but said Ms Machado had a “terrible” past that a “duped” Mrs Clinton had overlooked before holding her up “as an ‘angel”’ in the first presidential debate.
With the US election less than 40 days away, Mr Trump’s allies have implored him to stick to attacks on Mrs Clinton over her family foundation, her emails controversy or her long history as a political insider.