Clinton campaign goes on tweetstorm in response to Trump attacks on Machado: 'This is unhinged, even for' him
Hillary Clinton's campaign unleashed a tweetstorm on Friday in response to Donald Trump's attacks on former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, calling the Republican presidential nominee "unhinged" and "dangerous."
Trump tweeted early in the morning that Machado "duped and used" Clinton, who mentioned the 1996 pageant winner near the end of Monday night's presidential debate. Clinton had claimed that Trump called Machado "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" because of her Latina heritage.
"Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT!" Trump tweeted. "Hillary was set up by a con."
Trump was likely alluding to past allegations that Machado was a murder accomplice in Venezuela. In a subsequent tweet, Trump also suggested that she appeared in a sex tape.
Clinton's campaign attacked Trump in return with this series of tweets:
Machado has been a vocal critic of the Republican presidential nominee during this election cycle. She has also been campaigning in support of Clinton.
Since Clinton brought up Machado in Monday's debate, Trump has continually defended his actions toward her.
"I saved her job because they wanted to fire her for putting on so much weight," Trump told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday night. "They know what they're getting into - it's a beauty contest. And I said don't do that. Let her try and lose the weight."
Peter Jacobs contributed to this report.