ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks on a former Miss Universe in a stream of early-morning tweets.
Trump’s verbal barbs directed at Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe title in 1996, started after the first presidential debate Monday when Hillary Clinton mentioned her and claimed that Trump used to call her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping.”
Rather than back away from the accusations, Trump has repeatedly defended his criticisms of the woman and her weight.
His latest came online Friday morning:
Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
He posted a third tweet in which he makes reference to her past, but doesn’t mention specific allegations.
The Twitter tirade wasn’t the first round of shots he has fired this week at Machado, 39, a naturalized U.S. citizen who won Miss Universe two decades ago representing Venezuela.
On Tuesday morning, hours after leaving the debate stage at Hofstra University, Trump called into Fox and Friends and talked about how the pageant organizers “had a tremendously difficult time with” Machado.
“She was the winner, and, you know, she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem,” Trump said. “We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude, and we had a real problem with her.”
Machado has been speaking out since the debate, defending Clinton’s accusations against Trump.
“He was really aggressive,” Machado said of Trump on CNN Tuesday. “He was really rude. He was a bad person with me. And that is the story that I need to share.”
She added that there are less-than-stellar moments in her personal history, and did not deny the allegation when CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked her about media reports that she drove a getaway car during an attempted murder allegedly committed by her then-boyfriend.
“You know, I have my past. Of course, everybody has. Everybody has a past,” she said. “And I’m not a saint girl. But that is not the point now.”
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