The first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton had over 80 million viewers on Monday night. There was a lot to talk about afterwards, and a lot are talking about a woman that Hillary mentioned in her criticism against Trump's views of women: Alicia Machado. Clinton maintains that Trump put the Miss Universe winner through a lot of terrible treatment on account of her weight gain, but Trump states his point of view later as the election heats up. This is what is known about the lady Trump allegedly called "Miss Piggy", Alicia Machado.
At the debate on Monday, Clinton stated that "one of the worst things he [Donald Trump] said was about a woman in a beauty contest - he loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them-and he called this woman 'Miss Piggy', then he called her 'Miss Housekeeping' because she was Latina."
She then said "Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. And she has become a US citizen and you can bet she is going to vote this November". Donald Trump interrupted Clinton by saying "where did you find this"?
So who is Alicia Machado? According to CNN Politics, she won Donald Trump's Miss Universe Pageant in 1997, representing Venezuela. After the event, she attributes stress as having her gain about 20 pounds. Donald Trump claims that the actual amount was about 40 pounds.
Machado states that Trump body-shamed her publically, and it wasn't just the names that Trump called her. Trump apparently demanded that she lose the weight or give up the crown. There is a video from the former Miss Universe winner below explaining this.
There was a time where Trump pressured her into working out in front of many reporters. She was not comfortable with it, but Trump reportedly did not care and made her do it anyway. The event really had a profound effect on Machado as she reports suffering from bulimia and anorexia for five years.
Trump has defended his actions, saying the Machado was "a real problem" with "her attitude". According to The Wrap, Trump's comments on Fox and Friends stated that "Hillary went back into the years and she found this girl...and found the girl and talked about her like she was Mother Teresa. And it wasn't quite that way but that's okay. Hillary has to do what she has to do."
Some analysts have said that Clinton planned out Machado's experience as a deliberate attack on Trump, as an after-debate story that keeps the issue alive and give people doubt of Trump as a president. The Trump campaign also calls Machado's claims "totally baseless and unsubstantiated" and "Machado lobbed a public smear campaign to gain notoriety at Donald Trump's expense".
Feel free to leave a comment on how you feel the issue of Alicia Machado being handled by the media as well as the two opposing presidential campaigns.
