Former ‘Miss Universe’ Alicia Machado became an American citizen in August of this year, just in time to vote against Donald Trump in November.
Alicia Machado was crowned Miss Universe at just 19 years old, back in May 1996, The beauty pageant happened to recently be bought by Trump, for a moment Machado was in extase, but not for long.
After her crowning, she gained some weight. As she explained to the Washington Post in 1997, she gained some weight because she had been starving herself in the run-up to the pageant.”When I was preparing for Miss Universe, it was an obsession for me to not gain weight. By the time I won, I was actually recovering. But the year leading to it, I didn’t eat at all. And whatever I ate, I threw up. I weighed 116 pounds when I won. I was skeletal.” Machado said she gained back 19 pounds, putting her back into a healthy weight range for her height.
Well, Trump didn’t agree with that. In 1997, he implied that her weight gain was problem, and that ‘she liked to eat.’ He even brought her to a New York City gym, where Machado was met with camera’s and reporters. “I asked him to please send me to a trainer or a nutritionist or something because I needed some orientation, and he sends me to a gym in New York,” Machado said. “When I get there, there are 80 reporters waiting to watch me sweat. I thought that was in very bad taste.”
The feud came up in Monday’s presidential debate:
“One of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them. And he called this woman ‘Miss Piggy.’ Then he called her ‘Miss Housekeeping,’ because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name,” Clinton said as Trump interrupted her multiple times. “Her name is Alicia Machado. And she has become a US citizen, and you can bet she’s going to vote this November.”
Luckily, it isn’t 1996 anymore, and Alicia Machado is now a 39-year woman. She’s a successful singer, actress, model, businesswoman and activist. “No matter what, no matter who tells you that you don’t look good, that is only outside,” she told The Guardian. “You are more than some weight. You are more than some phase. You are more than if you are short or tall, or you are black or you are white, or you are skinny or fat or whatever. Your value is how you can work, how you can feel for the people around you.”
Watch the video here.
Trump on Alicia, 1996: "Miss Piggy."
This morning: "She gained a massive amount of weight…it was a real problem." pic.twitter.com/0wrISjJe6z
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 27, 2016
