In 1997, Trump publicly claimed the Venezuelan pageant queen had gained up to 60 pounds, but she said it was no more than 19. Machado says she gained the weight when she returned to eating normally after suffering from anorexia and bulimia before the competition. Trump went so far as to ambush Machado in a New York gym, where he held a news conference criticizing her weight as she sat on a stationary bike and jumped rope in front of dozens of television cameras.
“We’ve tried diet, spa, a trainer, incentives. Forget it, the way she’s going, she’d eat the whole gymnasium,” Trump told Newsweek at the time.
Machado, now a U.S. citizen, says Trump called her “Miss Piggy” in reference to her weight and “Miss Housekeeping” in reference to her ethnicity — both of which were highlighted by Clinton on the debate stage Monday.
In a conference call arranged by Clinton’s campaign Tuesday, Machado said Trump “always treated me like a lesser thing, like garbage.”
Trump has reacted angrily, telling Fox News on Tuesday: “She was the worst we ever had, the worst, the absolute worst, she was impossible. She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude.”
Trump surrogate Kayleigh McEnany said on CNN that Trump didn’t force Machado to work out, and she defended the candidate for calling Machado an “eating machine” in 1997.
“I like to eat. I like to eat. That is not necessarily a sexist thing,” McEnany said.
The Full Story (September 28, 2016)
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