Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:15 pm
Leave aside for a moment questions about why such a physically unattractive man is so obsessed with looks in others. Incredibly, Donald Trump told Bill O’Reilly that it was a cheap shot by Hillary Clinton to criticize his cheap shot against the winner of 1996’s Miss Universe Pageant, Alicia Machado.
The overweight Trump had attacked the former Miss Universe as being overweight, calling her “Miss Piggy,” an “eating machine,” and “Miss Housekeeping”; the latter a slur on her Venezuelan origins.
You remember now, no doubt, how much Trump says he loves Hispanics.
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Hillary Clinton brought these attacks up at the debate, saying, “He called her Miss Piggy. Then he called her Miss Housekeeping, because she was Latina,” to which, at the time, Trump had only a childish “oh yeah?” response, and the bizarre claim that any insults he makes are justified.
Take a refresher:
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly was more than willing to give Trump the opportunity to further express his displeasure at being called out by a woman for his attacks on women. His slurs against Machado were, after all, only a few out of many he has made over the years.
BILL O’REILLY: Do you think that was a cheap shot by Secretary Clinton to bring [you attacking Alicia Machado] up?
DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think it was.
You would think the guy who has created for himself the reputation for someone who looks down on “political correctness” would not mind being factually called out as a sexist pig, but apparently Trump’s “laws of political correctness” apply only to Donald Trump.
So he responded to Clinton by appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends and admitting Clinton “maybe” got under his skin before doubling down on his smears against Machado:
“She was the worst we ever had. The worst. The absolute worst. She was impossible.”
Machado felt the same about her experience with Trump, telling reporters, “And I have been talking about this for 20 years, this really bad experience working with Mr. Donald Trump.”
Trump added that, “She was the winner, and you know she gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.”
Trump doesn’t think his slurs were cheap shots, but it was a cheap shot for Hillary Clinton to throw them in his face at the debate.
Probably it did not help Trump’s mood when Clinton mentioned Machado had recently become a U.S. citizen (in August), and that she planned to vote against him in November.
For her part, Alicia Machado posted a picture (above) of herself at Instagram with a little note to Donald Trump:
“I so proud and inspiration to be a U.S. Citizen! I’ll be Voting! All my power and my support become with my next President @hillaryclinton Miss Housekeeping and miss Piggy Can Vote.”
“This is a man,” she said in a Clinton ad, “who doesn’t realize the damage he causes. He bears many grudges, and harbors a deep racism, and is convinced that there are lesser human beings than him. But now I’m strong. I am an American citizen, and I’m going to vote.â€
And she got the best revenge of all when The Washington Post reported that searches for the phrase “registrarse para votar” (“register to vote”) “hit an all-time high during Monday’s presidential debate.”
So sad!
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
