There is an aspect to the Alicia Machado story that I haven't seen addressed anywhere, so I'm going to give it a go. Donald Trumo claims Alicia Machado gained 60 pounds after winning the Miss Universe title. He claims she was 117 or 118 pounds when she won, so an additional 60 pounds would put her just under 180 pounds, by my rudimentary calculations.
No one seems to be challenging Trump on this point, but I believe he is grossly over-estimating the amount Machado gained, maybe due to his lack of respect for women in general, or an unreasonable expectation as to what ‘normal’ is for the female body.
Here is a photo of Machado winning Miss Universe in 1996:
‘Thin’ Machado accepting the crown
And here is a photo of her after she gained weight, or became ‘fat’ according to Trump:
‘Fat’ Machado, forced to work out in front of reporters
The woman in the second photo, forced to work out in front of reporters and cameras, is in no way 180 pounds. She is a phenomally beautiful woman, being shamed in public for not conforming to Donald Trump’s version of physical beauty.
Obviously, Trump did not stop at calling her fat. He went on Howard Stern’s radio program and called Machado ‘an eating machine’, further dehumanizing her. Perhaps this was Trump’s way of garnering more attention, to rake in more dollars.
Through all of the embarrassment, Machado remained a professional, smiling through her pain, though she would later reveal she was humiliated and that she didn't want to work out for reporters. CNN was especially cruel, stating in their report at the time:
When Alicia Machado of Venezuela was named Miss Universe nine months ago, no one could accuse her of being the size of the universe. But as her universe expanded, so did she...
Donald a trump, of course, wasn't bothered by the fact that he was body shaming a grown woman, he was only concerned with how her weight gain could impact his bottom line. If the Machado in the second picture is considered ‘fat’ then I now know why so many of our young women, Machado included, have serious eating disorders.
Alicia Machado is not fat, was never fat, and she especially didn't deserve the monikers of ‘Miss Piggy’ and ‘Fat Pig’. This is not behavior that should exist in a person trying to be the leader of our country.
By the way, at 5’7” and 117 pounds, Machado is considered underweight, using a BMI calculator. At 177 pounds, if she really had gained that much weight, Machado would have been slightly overweight, according to BMI calculators. By contrast, Donald Trump is on the line between overweight and obese according to BMI calculators, so he should not be throwing stones at Machado.
