Alicia Machado, the 1996 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant winner had caused quite a commotion when she spoke up about Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s body shaming and racist remarks twenty years ago. The topic got opened two days ago when the Democrats’ Presidential bet Hillary Clinton mentioned her name during the US Presidential Debate.
The two-decade-long issue had started right after Machado became the crowned 1996 Miss Universe. According to her, she started gaining weight not long after the pageant had finished. The weight gain isn’t that much but Trump had made it sound like a very big deal by taking her to a certain gym in New York and made her do some workout in front of the press. Afraid of getting her crown taken away from her aside from the fact that she was only nineteen during that time, she had decided to obey Trump despite her hurt feelings. And in order not to make everyone worry, she even kissed Trump on the cheek during that time, making it look like the workout in front of the press was a very good idea.
Trump, on the other hand, had intensified her emotional damage by making faces and gestures in front of press showing his disapproval of Machado’s weight gain. Moreover, he started giving her harsh racist and sexist remarks such as ‘Miss Piggy’ and ‘Miss Housekeeping’, because of her having a Latin American origin. Because of such careless remarks, Machado became emotionally damaged, eventually leading her to suffer from eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia in particular for five long years.
The former Miss Universe commented that Trump is a bad person and his rude behavior against women and Latin Americans remain unchanged even after two long decades had passed. Clinton had somehow added wood to the fire by commenting that it is somewhat ironic to realize that Trump loves and supports beauty contests and yet, he destroys a woman’s self-esteem in public as well as in private.
However, Trump commented that the real problem with Machado during that time isn’t just her weight; she had an attitude problem as well. That’s the reason why he was amazed and frustrated at the same time that Clinton is now talking about her as if she was like Mother Theresa. In addition to that, he also cited an accusation to the former Miss Universe about her involvement in a certain incident, an incident where she got actually got away clean instead of facing criminal charges.
Being a legal US Citizen and a positive influence in Latin American community, Machado is now known to support Hillary Clinton and is sure to vote for the Presidential Candidate this coming November.