Behind Machado: How A Miss Universe Roiled The Presidential Race

[DonViejo]

Anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans heard the name Alicia Machado for the first time this week in the final minutes of the most-watched presidential debate in history.

But there were actually a year's worth of twists and turns, largely behind the scenes, that led Hillary Clinton to utter the name of the Latina beauty queen, turning Machado into a major figure in the final weeks of the presidential race.

American Bridge, an opposition research group, learned about the 1996 Miss Universe's story last year. It sold the information directly to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and passed it on to Correct the Record, a super PAC, which also sold it to Clinton's campaign, according to three people familiar with the transactions who were not authorized to speak publicly.

And Clinton's campaign clearly made the strategic decision that what Machado had to say about her former boss, Donald Trump, would be far more beneficial to the Democratic hopeful than any questions raised about the pageant winner's colorful past.

As Trump inched closer to winning the Republican nomination, Machado contacted the Clinton campaign herself to reveal that he had humiliated her for gaining weight, taunting her with names like "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping."

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http://www.nationalmemo.com/behind-machado-how-a-miss-universe-roiled-the-presidential-race/