Updated October 01, 2016 06:20:10
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has deepened his attacks on former beauty queen Alicia Machado, calling her disgusting and alleging the existence of a sex tape.
Key points:
- Former beauty queen already criticised by Mr Trump for gaining weight
- Republican candidate already struggling among women and Hispanics
- Mr Trump trying to rebound from widely viewed loss in debate
Mr Trump has refused to back away from an issue that threatens to damage his already weak standing among women and Hispanics.
His Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, raised Mr Trump's treatment of the Venezuelan-born former Miss Universe as an example of how he views women during the two candidates' first debate.
Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump, the former owner of the Miss Universe pageants, had called Ms Machado "Miss Piggy" and also "Miss Housekeeping" because she was a Latina.
Mr Trump did not apologise then and in a television interview the following day he strongly criticized Ms Machado for having gained weight after she won the Miss Universe title in 1996.
"She was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight. And it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude, and we had a real problem with her," Mr Trump said.
With less than six weeks to go until the November 8 election, Mr Trump has refused to let the issue fade and he went on a pre-dawn tirade on Twitter.
"Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a US citizen so she could use her in the debate?" he asked.
He said the Clinton campaign was unaware of the beauty queen's past and was "duped" by her, but offered no proof of his claim.
His attack came as he struggled to rebound from what was widely viewed as a loss to Mrs Clinton in Monday's debate.
Mrs Clinton said she appreciated Ms Machado's courage through what she described as a "war of some pretty unpleasant words".
Ms Machado, who is now a US citizen, has appeared on major television and cable networks and has given numerous interviews this week in which she said she was humiliated by Mr Trump.
In response to Mr Trump's comments, Ms Machado said on Twitter she was not going to be "bullied or silenced" and was "standing with women and the Latino community everywhere".
"This, of course, is not the first time the candidate insists on discrediting someone or insists on demoralising women, minorities, and people of certain religions through his hateful campaign," she said.
"This is definitely one of his most frightful characteristics."
Politico reported that Ms Machado had starred in racy reality TV programs and posed naked for Playboy's Mexican version, but said media outlets have found no evidence that she has starred in pornographic films.
In rising to bait over the Ms Machado issue, Mr Trump is in some ways echoing his lengthy public dispute in August with the parents of a Muslim Army captain killed in Iraq.
That incident caused anguish among many Republican leaders concerned that he had nothing to gain by attacking a grieving family.
His latest remarks could hurt Mr Trump further with women and Hispanic voters, both groups that favour Mrs Clinton in opinion polls.
Reuters
First posted October 01, 2016 04:57:50
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