As reported by NBC News, and in a turn of events that was both shocking and hardly surprising at all, a Donald Trump porn video from back in 2000 has apparently surfaced on the Internet. This softcore Trump Playboy video throws an enormous monkey wrench into the Trump campaign’s ongoing attempts to paint former Miss Universe Alicia Machado – and current critic of Donald Trump – in an unflattering light by suggesting that she herself had worked in adult films.

“Beauty is beauty, and let’s see what happens with New York,” Trump says in the video. https://t.co/3wtmNCs3Us — HuffPost Australia (@HuffPostAU) October 1, 2016

As noted by the IMDb website, the softcore porn video in question was created by Playboy in 1999 and distributed in 2000 with the title of Playboy Video Centerfold: Playmate 2000 Bernaola Twins. While not exactly as graphic as Debbie Does Dallas, this porn video also isn’t quite what the religious right had in mind when they endorsed Donald Trump.

Even though a Playboy porn video featuring Donald Trump might seem like the kind of thing Republicans would assume is a hoax perpetrated by Hillary Clinton supporters, Trump is in fact prominently featured on the IMDb website at the bottom of the listed cast. Even Donald Trump’s unrivaled ability to deny reality may be tested by this undeniable fact.

It’s extraordinarily ironic – one might even say karma – that Donald Trump decided this week to launch one of his patented Twitter attacks against Alicia Machado – the former Miss Universe whom Trump had allegedly abused and certainly insulted during the 1990s. Trump attacked her in his tweet and suggested that people should definitely check online for the porn video he implied she made. As reported by USA Today, this annoyed Trevor Noah.

Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016

While Trump’s insinuating tweet has since been debunked by several news outlets, the Republican nominee opened a huge can of worms in the process of attacking the former beauty queen. Once people started typing in “Trump” and “porn,” his rather embarrassing participation in a Playboy video 16 years ago was certain to pop-up in the search engines.

In the Trump Playboy video – and to the relief of all assembled – Donald Trump apparently keeps his clothes on throughout the entire film. However, the same cannot be said for the Playboy Bunnies “acting” in this video epic.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shows a police officer his photo on the cover of a Playboy magazine during a campaign event. [Image by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images]

For much of the softcore porn video, the ladies in question are partially or entirely nude, and they are often caressing one another in a manner likely to appeal to the fantasies of teenage boys or misogynistic, billionaire real estate developers. It should be noted that Donald Trump has often associated himself with the Playboy empire – and more significantly – Playboy Bunnies.

As the title of this porn video suggests, one of the highlights of production is the presence of the Bernaola Twins. These two young ladies from Los Angeles were a significant part of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire at the time, largely because Hefner seemed to have a bizarre interest in twins.

Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner sits with Playmates Carol, left, and Darlene Bernaola. [AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill]

Logic would suggest that the fundamentalist, religious right in the Republican Party would immediately turn their backs on Donald Trump, particularly given their still fresh denunciation of Alicia Machado for participating in porn films that never existed. However, it’s always a mistake to underestimate the ability of the Republican right wing to engage in hypocrisy.

Many wonder why no one ever noticed that Trump had a brief cameo in a soft core porn video. It turns out, everyone fast-forwarded thru it. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 1, 2016

What’s sauce for the goose is definitely not sauce for the gander – or in this case the Trump. The Republican view of the female sex – and female sex is that women who participate in adult videos are, to put it politely, prostitutes. On the other hand, men who take part in such films are often deeply admired – even if secretly – by those who claim to be the moral guardians of our society.

Even so, the Hillary Clinton campaign certainly hasn’t missed a step in taking advantage of the Trump porn video debacle. In fact, it seems as though Trump walked blindly into a trap Clinton laid for him in the debate. Not only will this scandal possibly damage Trump with his current supporters, it will make it even less likely that women voters might accidentally vote for Donald Trump.

It has to be assumed that a Donald Trump porn video will knock Trump’s election poll numbers down at least a few percentage points. Right?

While it might seem, as the AP has pointed out, that the campaign has taken on a dark and sordid tone, this is a consequence of nominating someone like Donald Trump as the Republican Presidential nominee.

[Featured Image by Getty Images]