In the final moments of the first presidential debate Monday night, Hillary Clinton brought up Alicia Machado, a former winner of Trump’s Miss Universe pageant who told Inside Edition this year that Donald Trump referred to her as “Miss Housekeeping” and “Miss Piggy” after she gained weight following her victory in 1996. “After that episode, I was sick, anorexia and bulimia for five years,” Machado said of the ridicule from Trump. “Over the past 20 years, I’ve gone to a lot of psychologists to combat this.”
As Clinton mentioned during the debate, Machado became a U.S. citizen this year and “you can bet she’s going to vote this November.” In response, Trump repeated the question, “Where did you find this?” and went on to defend the derogatory comments he has made in the past about comedian Rosie O’Donnell. Tweeting in Spanish following the debate, Machado thanked Clinton for respecting women, adding, “I’m with you!”
The Clinton campaign was armed with a new video featuring Machado that went up on Twitter shortly after the debate ended. In the piece, Machado tells her story about the insults hurled at her by Trump. “This is a man who doesn’t realize the damage he causes,” she says. “He bears many grudges and harbors a deep racism, and he is convinced there are lesser human beings than him.”
