Donald Trump only refers to her as a “Miss Universe person,” but Alicia Machado has made the media rounds to defend herself from both past and present insults made by Trump. While Trump continues to double down on his derogatory claims, Machado was fighting back tears while telling Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Trump “is not a good person.”
Machado’s story entered the news cycle after Hillary Clinton brought up Trump’s past comments about the former Miss Universe, which seemed to rattle the Republican presidential nominee. Never one to back down from a fight, Trump called into Fox and Friends on Monday to double down on his insults, but Machado has been quick to defend herself. After being the subject of a Clinton-backed Trump attack ad, Machado talked with Megyn Kelly to give her two cents about the Donald. While Kelly asked Machado if she embellished some of her previous claims, Machado stood by her comments that Trump wasn’t all he’s cracked up to be:
“I’m here because I know this person, and he is not a good person — that is the point. The point is, no more abuse for us. No more abuse for the girls. If you gain weight, if you don’t look [like] the most beautiful girl in the world, you have your mind, you have your heart, you are strong, you are intelligent. And in the future, that ladies can be a president, too.”
Since Monday’s debate, the Trump campaign has ramped up its PR efforts to dispel any claims Machado has made. The campaign is especially trying to change the narrative about Trump reportedly calling her “Miss Housekeeping” and “Miss Piggy,” as reported by CNN. In a separate interview with Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, Machado related a story about Trump condemning her for eating too much, which she said was a low point, but she is trying to move past it and feels this is an opportunity to show who Trump really is:
“I know what I left with him and he knows, too. And he was really aggressive. He was really rude. He was a bad person with me. That is the story that I need to share with my community. We cannot accept no more insults for my Latin community. No more insults for the women. I know very well Mr. Trump and I can see the same person that I met 20 years ago.”
You can watch the full Machado interview with Cooper below.