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.And "early morning" doesn't mean six o'clock:
Pre-dawn tweet fest from @realDonaldTrump about "my worst Miss U" and frustration about leaks.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 30, 2016
Time stamp on his 1st of four: 3:20 a.m. pic.twitter.com/ieSn9H9DqP
Yup:
Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying "sources said," DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Followed by:
I have to agree with this:
@JenniferJJacobs @nomoremister New ad: 3 AM phone call in White House, Trump too busy tweeting to answer
— Rande B (@RBeidel) September 30, 2016
Get on it, Robbie Mook! Also, maybe this tweet from Monday night wasn't so crazy:
Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) September 27, 2016
Donald Trump is a distractible guy -- every report on his debate prep said he had trouble concentrating on the process -- but this he's concentrating on. Remember, the debate was Monday. It's Friday. He's still fuming about Machado.
On the other hand, he came out of the debate with a plan to attack Hillary Clinton over her husband's sex life and her own responses to Bill's infidelities. I predicted that Trump and the rest of the right would have trouble focusing on the more disturbing allegations, because they couldn't restrain themselves from talking about Bill's fully consensual affairs, which most of America shrugs off. As it turns out, Trump can't focus on the more disturbing Clinton allegations because he can't focus on the Clintons at all -- he set out to smear them with talk of Bill's alleged sexual assaults and Hillary's alleged acts of intimidation and got distracted by a completely different line of attack that wasn't directly focused on the Clintons at all.
There have been allegations of criminal conduct in Machado's past -- but the one specific item Trump mentions isn't criminal at all. It's an alleged "sex tape." But, as Snopes notes, he may be talking about a fake:
In 2009, a video clip purportedly showing the former Miss Universe winner engaging in anal sex was circulated online, and that is the clip that now most frequently shows up in response to web searches on the phrase "Alicia Machado porn." However, the woman seen in that video is not Alicia Machado -- the clip was taken from the 2004 DVD Apprentass 4, which features porn actress Angel Dark, and was later retitled to suggest it showed Alicia Machado....And if that's what Trump is referring to, it's hypocritical of him to bring it up, given the nature of the contestant contracts used on The Apprentice:
Machado is also often described as having been in a "sex tape," a claim that stems from her 2005 appearance on the Spanish reality show La Granja (similar to the United States' The Real World), which she was reportedly kicked off of after being filmed having sex with another cast member....
However, the so-called "sex tape" stemming from that incident, which is nothing more than some grainy, night-vision footage of a couple of covered figures writhing in a bed, hardly qualifies as explicit. And reality television being what it is, the scene the tape depicts was quite possibly staged or fabricated.
Appearing on The Apprentice with Donald Trump required agreeing to a series of odd and invasive demands regarding sex [and] nudity.... According to a copy of an NBC contract reviewed by The Daily Beast, contestants had to agree to be filmed, “whether I am clothed, partially clothed or naked, whether I am aware or unaware of such videotaping, filming or recording.”So Donald? Please proceed.
... [Contestants] were made to undergo sexually transmitted disease screenings, which tested for “HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HPV, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes,” according to the contract.
Along with such testing, contestants had to accept “that Producer may impose one or more Series Rules regarding the type of sexual activity, if any, that participants will be permitted to engage in.”
And, the contract states, “I further acknowledge and understand that the film, tape, audio and other recordings that will be made of me in connection with the Series might in other circumstances be considered a serious invasion of my privacy.”