The Note: A Universe of Controversy

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September 28, 2016

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A Universe of Controversy

Former Miss Universe 'Very Worried' About a Trump Presidency

Alicia Machado was 19 years old when she won the Miss Universe contest in 1996, the same year Donald Trump took over the pageant. She said Trump publicly humiliated her when she started putting on weight. He allegedly called her names like "Miss Piggy," "Miss Housekeeping" and "Miss Eating Machine," and he invited the press to watch her work out, according to Machado. "As a mother, I am very worried he could be president," Machado told ABC News in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" today. "Maybe he will be saying bad things about me or try and discredit to me. But it's OK, I'm strong." More from ABC's MORGAN WINSOR: http://abcn.ws/2cBaa4C

What Trump Said Yesterday

Trump pushed back against the criticism regarding his treatment of Machado, saying "She was the winner, and, you know, she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem," the real estate mogul said of Machado during an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning. "We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude, and we had a real problem with her." http://abcn.ws/2cBaa4C

More From the Trump Campaign

"Hillary Clinton will continue to use these false distractions like Ms. Machado and Mark Cuban to easily deceive the biased media, but will have no impact on Mr. Trump or the voters who are concerned with real issues," Jessica Ditto, Deputy Communications Director for the Trump Campaign, said in a statement.

Analysis - ABC's Rick Klein

Among the ways Donald Trump is breaking with conventional politics? He's not even really pretending that he won the debate. He is insisting that he won, of course – but he's also complaining about the moderator, the questions, and even the microphone he used at Hofstra. (As his opponent pointed out, winners don't complain about the equipment.) And in the debate's aftermath, he is also adding fuel to a two-decade-old feud with a former Miss Universe whom he attacked for gaining weight. This is the Trump that the Trump campaign had been trying to disappear – and the Trump that Hillary Clinton's campaign insists is the only true Trump to exist. That's what's behind Clinton's masterful strategy from Monday night: She set traps for Trump to fall into – or, rather, she pressed a whole bunch of buttons knowing that something would set him off. Clinton got the result she wanted. Trump's reaction, meanwhile, took would could have been a partial victory or a split decision and turned it into a solid loss. The Clinton camp got a debate win, and then a parting gift.

What We're Listening To -- 'Giuliani Lauds Trump for Not Attacking Clinton Over Husband's Infidelity'

From Bloomberg Politics' "Master in Politics" podcast with TAMMY HADDAD. "He restrained himself from saying, and I know he would like to say, except the fact that Chelsea Clinton was in the audience, and that is that she enabled and supported a president who was a disgrace to the White House," Giuliani told Bloomberg Politics' "Masters in Politics" podcast in the spin room following the debate. "He was one of the two presidents impeached. He was impeached because he took advantage of an intern, an intern that she attacked for six months, and she claims to be a feminist." Haddad also interviews Trump, Joel Benenson, David Plouffe, Sarah Huckabee, General Mike Flynn, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn. LISTEN: http://bloom.bg/2d6xI7L