Trump again slams former Miss Universe over weight

Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe winner who Donald Trump once called “Miss Piggy,” was “the worst we ever had,” the Manhattan billionaire said Tuesday morning, because “she gained a massive amount of weight.”

Hillary Clinton called attention to Machado’s case towards the end of Monday night’s presidential debate, recalling that Trump had not only called her “Miss Piggy” but also “Miss Housekeeping,” a reference to her Hispanic heritage. Addressing Trump’s name-calling directly, Clinton said “Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. And she has become a U.S. citizen and you can bet she is going to vote this November."


Trump said that while nothing Clinton did throughout the debate to that point had managed to get under his skin, the former secretary of state’s decision to bring up Machado did frustrate him.

“That person was a Miss Universe person, and she was the worst we ever had. The worst, the absolute worst. She was impossible, and she was a Miss Universe contestant and ultimately a winner who they had a tremendously difficult time with as Miss Universe,” Trump explained during a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.” “She was the winner, and, you know, 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, so Hillary went back into the years and she found this girl. This was many years ago, 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.”

Clinton’s discussion of the former Miss Universe winner came amid a larger attack against Trump’s history of disrespectful and derogatory remarks about women. Of her GOP opponent, Clinton said “This is a man who has calling women pigs, slobs and dogs and someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, who has said that women don't deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men.”

Trump said he had considered replying by raising former President Bill Clinton’s history of infidelity as a response but opted against it because the couple’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was in the room. The Manhattan billionaire said he might opt not to hold back such an attack at the next debate.

“Well, I may hit her harder certain ways,” he said. “I really eased up because I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. So, I may hit her harder in certain ways.”