FLASHBACK: Here’s How Donald Trump Saved Alicia Machado’s Miss Universe Title

by Jonah Bennett

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attempted to savage Donald Trump in Monday’s presidential debate by bringing up his comments about the weight of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

In reality, Trump saved Machado’s title and helped her lose the extra pounds, as well.

According to a report form CNN dating back to 1997, Trump said that although Machado put on 60 pounds in just nine months, there’s just no way he would strip away her title, putting to bed rumors that her weight was threatening her continued possession of the Miss Universe title, which she won in 1996.

“Some people when they have pressure eat too much. Like me. Like Alicia,” said Trump, who was executive producer of the Miss Universe Pageant at the time.

“We had a choice of: termination or do this,” he added. “We wanted to do this.”

For Trump, “this” meant exercise to get her weight down to a reasonable 130 pounds.

When reporters complained, Trump told them in response, “A lot of you folks have weight problems. I hate to tell you.”

Clinton brought up Machado as an example of Trump’s horrible treatment of women and noted that Machado would be voting for her, come November.

Following the debate, Trump appeared Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” and reaffirmed that in 1997, Machado had “gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.”

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