Fact Check: Five Things to Know About Alicia Machado

In the late 1990s, as President Bill Clinton was about to face the biggest sex scandal of his political career over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a beauty queen named Alicia Machado caused a major scandal by gaining a large amount of weight after winning the Miss Universe crown.

Donald Trump had just taken over the pageant, and fought to deal with the fallout.

Hillary Clinton has, for months, planned to use that episode against him, training Machado for the attack. Here are the facts.

1. Trump fought to save Machado’s Miss Universe title, and her job. 

What is a sensitive feminist male boss supposed to do if a female employee — hired, again, for her appearance — gains a large amount of weight? He is supposed to defend her job. And that is exactly what Trump did, urging the pageant not to fire her, and appearing with her at a gym to offer support. In an excerpt from his book The Art of the Comeback, Rush Limbaughnoted Thursday, Trump recalled the episode:

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