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Trump rant hits at Alicia Machado supposed 'sex tape'

Donald Trump unleashes a Twitter storm on the former Miss Universe and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. There's no evidence a sex tape exists.

Terry Collins Staff Reporter, CNET News
Terry writes about social networking giants and legal issues in Silicon Valley for CNET News. He joined CNET News from the Associated Press, where he spent the six years covering major breaking news in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before the AP, Terry worked at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and the Kansas City Star. Terry's a native of Chicago.
Terry Collins
2 min read

Donald Trump is back at it on Twitter, this time taking aim at a former Miss Universe and urging his 12 million followers to check out her alleged "sex tape and past." The only thing is, there's no evidence a sex tape even exists.

Trump shows a police officer his photo on the cover of Playboy magazine during a campaign event in July in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Enlarge Image
Trump shows a police officer his photo on the cover of Playboy magazine during a campaign event in July in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Trump shows a police officer his photo on the cover of Playboy magazine during a campaign event in July in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

The Republican presidential nominee rattled off a trio of pre-dawn tweets Friday claiming his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was "duped and used" by former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado.

His rant comes four days after Trump's first debate with Clinton in which she called out his views on women. Clinton said he once referred to Machado, who was born in Venezuela and had reportedly gained weight after winning the pageant, as "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping."

In Friday's tweets, Trump calls Machado a "con" and said Clinton's use of Machado as a "paragon of virtue" is an example of bad judgment. However, the debunking site Snopes looked into the claim and didn't find evidence of Machado doing a sex video, but that she did pose for Playboy.

Trump also posed for Playboy. He was on the cover of the March 1990 issue, which you can buy on Amazon.com. He's made no secret of his appearance on the cover. He also shows up briefly in a "Playboy Video Centerfold" video from 2000.


Trump's rants have been retweeted and liked more than 30,000 times.

Machado responded Friday on Twitter, saying: "I will not be bullied or silenced. I'm standing with women and the Latino community everywhere."

Clinton responded as well, tweeting in Spanish that "Alicia deserves respect for bravely confronting Trump's attacks. How dare he blame her and say that he helped her?"

About two-thirds of viewers believe Clinton won Monday's debate.

First published September 30, 6:24 a.m. PT.
Update, 11:11 a.m. PT: Adds detail, adds responses from Machado and Clinton. 5:12 p.m.: Adds info on Playboy cover. October 1 at 9:07 a.m.: Adds info on Playboy video.