Donald Trump went after a former Miss Universe in a string of early-morning tweets Friday, encouraging voters to “check out” an alleged “sex tape” of Alicia Machado, who has been on the offensive against the GOP presidential nominee all week.
During Trump’s first debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton on Monday, she mentioned old comments he made about a Miss Universe contestant, whom he complained gained weight after she won the crown.
Machado has since given a series of interviews slamming the real estate mogul as sexist, but Trump says Clinton was “duped” into ever bringing her up.
Machado was photographed topless for Playboy and reportedly appeared in a risqué but not nude scene on a Spanish reality TV show, in bed with a male contestant.
Fact-checkers have rated the claim that she appeared in a sex tape as “mostly false,” noting that searches for “Alicia Machado Porn Star” or similar phrases turn up actual videos on pornographic websites, but all are women who aren’t her.
Trump has struggled with women throughout his campaign, a weakness Clinton, the first woman nominated by a major party, has repeatedly sought to exploit.