Alicia Machado's story isn't so simple

Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado was brought up by Hillary Clinton during Monday night's debate as an example of how cruel Donald Trump is to women. From Libertarian Republic:

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attempted to savage Donald Trump in Monday’s presidential debate by bringing up his comments about the weight of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

In reality, Trump saved Machado’s title and helped her lose the extra pounds, as well.

According to a report [from] CNN dating back to 1997, Trump said that although Machado put on 60 pounds in just nine months, there’s just no way he would strip away her title, putting to bed rumors that her weight was threatening her continued possession of the Miss Universe title, which she won in 1996.

“Some people when they have pressure eat too much. Like me. Like Alicia,” said Trump, who was executive producer of the Miss Universe Pageant at the time.

“We had a choice of: termination or do this,” he added. “We wanted to do this.”

For Trump, “this” meant exercise to get her weight down to a reasonable 130 pounds.

When reporters complained, Trump told them in response, “A lot of you folks have weight problems. I hate to tell you.”

60 pounds in 9 months? I didn't even put on that much weight when I quit smoking. Let's be brutally honest here: Machado had a weight/eating problem. While Trump may have contributed to the fact it continued for years, it is clear that Machado already had issues.

Her issues didn't end when Miss Universe ended. For example, from the Daily Mail:

The former Miss Universe at the center of a bitter exchange in Monday's presidential debate was accused of aiding a would-be murderer and threatening to kill a judge, it has emerged. 

...In January 1998, the Associated Press revealed that Machado had been accused in court documents in Cadacras of driving her boyfriend from the scene of a shooting.

She was ordered to testify in court, with her lawyer telling a local newspaper that she was in fact filming a soap opera at the time.

The murder, it was alleged, was the culmination of a bitter feud.

Machado's boyfriend, Juan Rodriguez Reggeti, was accused of shooting his brother-in-law, Francisco Sbert Moukso - at the funeral of the dead man's wife, Maria Rodriguez, who was the alleged murderer's sister.

Sbert's attorney alleged that Reggeti believed the dead man had driven his sister to suicide and took revenge, the Associated Press said.

Rodriguez was eight months pregnant when she jumped to her death off a fifth-floor balcony.

The attorney also alleged that witnesses saw Machado drive her boyfriend away from the scene of the crime, and that her boyfriend had snatched the dead woman's 11-month-old son as well.

But her lawyer, Ricardo Koesling, was quoted in a local newspaper calling the claims 'a huge stupidity' and saying: 'She wasn't even present at the site of the incident.'

Machado was not indicted when the judge in the case said there was insufficient evidence that she was at the scene of the alleged crime.

There was clearly confusion as in contrast to her lawyer's initial claim she was filming, Machado later claimed that she was at home sick. The judge said there was also insufficient evidence to prove that claim.

A judge indicted her boyfriend, described by Reuters as 'a 26-year-old graphic designer with movie star good looks' - and police mounted a series of raids to find him, to no avail.

It was not the end of the affair.

A month later the judge went on national television to allege that Machado had threatened to kill him if he indicted Sbert.

Judge Maximiliano Fuenmayor said on national television that she threatened 'to ruin my career as a judge and ... kill me', the Associated Press reported.

Reuters reported that he 'said she would make sure, using her friendship with the president (Rafael Caldera), that my career as judge is ruined and then she would kill me'.

He alleged that when he issued an arrest warrant she made a threatening phone call. He had traced her identity because her number showed up on his mobile phone - in 1998, a relatively new technology.

The judge said he planned to open a new case against Machado. Judges in Venezuela are more akin to prosecutors, having investigatory powers.

The indictment, if it had led to criminal trial, would have carried a jail term of up to 18 months if she had been found guilty.

The Economist reported that she admitted making the call but that that she said it was to thank him for what it described as 'his unbiased pursuit of justice'.

Forgive me for not buying that.

But back to the Trump thing, if you want to blame Trump for anything, blame him for running a beauty pageant. For a century, beauty pageants have been incarnations of sexism. On the other hand, Alicia Machado would be nothing if not for Miss Universe. Let's be honest: The Machado-Trump relationship was mutually beneficial for both of them. The fact she is turning on him now tells us more about her than it does about him.