“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 Trump tweets. | AP Photo Trump assails former Miss Universe and Clinton in early morning tweet blitz

Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Friday morning that Hillary Clinton was “duped and used” by former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, urging his followers to “check out [her] sex tape and past.”

Machado, a native of Venezuela, vaulted into the political spotlight toward the end of Monday night’s presidential debate, when Clinton mentioned her during a riff on Trump’s long history of derogatory remarks towards women. Clinton noted that Trump has referred to Machado as “Miss Piggy,” a reference to her supposed weight gain as Miss Universe, and “Miss Housekeeping,” because of her Hispanic heritage.


Clinton punctuated the line of attack by adding, “Her name is Alicia Machado and she has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she's going to vote this November.”

Trump appeared stunned at the time, and his feud with Machado has escalated in recent days as the Clinton campaign has begun deploying her as a surrogate and putting her on calls with the campaign press. Machado, meanwhile, has gone on a publicity blitz, appearing on a raft of TV shows and excoriating Trump at every turn.

And Trump has taken the bait.

His latest online tirade began as early as 3:20 a.m. on Friday, when he tweeted, “Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying ‘sources said,’ DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies!”

Two hours later, he began a series of tweets about Machado, with whom he’s sparred in recent days.

“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!” he began.

“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,” he added.

The Manhattan billionaire wrapped up his early-morning attack by asking his followers: “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?”

The day after Monday’s debate, Trump admitted to Fox News that Clinton’s bringing his history with Machado into the race had gotten under his skin, calling her “the worst we ever had” as a Miss Universe winner because “she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.” In the days since, Trump and his surrogates have sought to further discredit her by bringing up a nearly two-decade old attempted murder investigation in which Machado was never charged and accusing her of starring in pornographic films.

While Machado has starred in risqué reality TV programs and posed nude for the Mexican version of Playboy magazine, the Daily Beast and other outlets that investigated the claim found no evidence that she has starred in any pornographic films and that the clips posted online actually feature another woman.

In addition to the 1998 attempted murder case, in which Machado was investigated but never charged over allegations she served as a getaway driver for her then boyfriend, the former Miss Universe was accused by the judge overseeing the case of making threatening phone calls to him. Machado denied the allegations, which were never pursued.

And while Trump suggested that Clinton may have helped Machado earn her U.S. citizenship in order to use the beauty queen in attacks against him, the former Miss Universe told Cosmopolitan Magazine this week that she became a citizen in August specifically so she could vote against Trump. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency in charge of the naturalization process, is part of the Department of Homeland Security, not the State Department.

Clinton also left the State Department in 2013, leaving her without any official capacity to assist Machado, although it is possible that she held some influence even after stepping down as former cabinet secretary.

