Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe winner, didn’t expect to become one of the central stories after the first presidential debate on Monday night.
On a call with press on Tuesday, she said she was “really surprised” when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton brought up the story of Donald Trump disparaging her for her slight weight gain while she wore the crown. Clinton said toward the end of the debate, “One of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He called this woman ‘Miss Piggy.’ Then he called her ‘Miss Housekeeping,’ because she was Latina.”
Speaking in a mix of English and Spanish, Machado said, “It made me cry.”
She’s happy to be sharing the experience, she says, as she is now a Clinton supporter. But it’s been strange to see the man she says abused her for the year that she was Miss Universe all over TV screens as he’s made a bid for the White House.
“For me, this election [is] like a bad dream,” she said. “I never imagined 20 years later I’d be in this position, I’d be in this moment watching this guy again doing stupid things and stupid comments and so…chauvinist.”
In previous interviews with the media, Machado has described how Trump’s taunts — calling her “Miss Piggy” and “an eating machine” — pushed her back into anorexia and bulimia, which she says she struggled with in the lead up to the pageant. On the media call Tuesday, she said she spent three or four years trying to overcome those illnesses after the experience of working for Trump as Miss Universe.
She said she hasn’t had direct contact with Trump since she stepped down after her tenure. “I don’t want to see him anymore either.”
Machado also noted that when Clinton brought her story up during the debate, Trump feigned ignorance, saying, “Where did you find this?”
“Maybe he doesn’t remember me… Maybe he doesn’t remember a girl of 18 years,” she said. “But I remember. I’ll always remember.”
She called him very vulgar and rude, constantly insulting her and treating her like a new toy. “He treated me like a thing, he treated me like garbage,” she said.