Donald Trump is not backing down after Hillary Clinton supporter and former Miss USA Alicia Machado accused the GOP nominee of making fun of her weight. NBC News obtained these alleged talking points from the Trump campaign on how surrogates should respond to the attacks. Such as:
"Hillary Clinton trying to present herself as some sort of feminist champion is a joke." https://t.co/Ic4fCF5Dae
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) September 29, 2016
Full memo here, including question to the press on why they’re not bringing up Monica Lewinsky, Gennifer Flowers or Juanita Broaddrick:
How is the Trump camp going to counter Alicia Machado? @AnthonyNBCNews obtained the surrogate talking points memo: pic.twitter.com/PanKpU21t0
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) September 29, 2016
But is it a smart movie for Trump to go on the attack? Maybe not. Here’s NBC News reporter Benjy Sarlin with a pretty good explanation of the trap Hillary Clinton set for Trump by bringing up Machado at the debate, and Trump took the bait.
A lot of Trump supporters are upset "Why isn't person X in Hillary's past a multi-day story." And I get it, coverage can feel arbitrary. 1/x
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 29, 2016
Sarlin went on to say that the way the MSM covers these stories depends on the reaction of the candidate:
The main culprit, though, is how they handle the stories. Take Patricia Smith, who lost her son in Benghazi and has criticized Clinton. 2/x
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 29, 2016
With Patricia Smith, Hillary Clinton knew she looked bad and didn’t say anything. And when Clinton didn’t respond, reporters moved on:
Smith is very sympathetic even if you disagree with her. Realizing that, HRC treaded lightly, didn't escalate: https://t.co/b34auVLuig 3/x
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 29, 2016
Trump, however, didn’t and is escalating things with Machado:
Trump, by contrast, goes straight after Machado, which requires her to respond, which prompts Trump to escalate, etc etc etc 4/x
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 29, 2016
Sarlin ended with an admission that he doesn’t know if it’s fair or not, but it’s the way things work right now:
Is this how coverage should work? That's a big question. But it's 100% predictable to anyone who runs a campaign. You can plan for it. 5/x
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 29, 2016
With that said, this video that we posted about yesterday of Machado and Trump interacting at a press event as she started an exercise program to lose weight paints a different picture than the one Clinton wants voters to see now:
Video from 1997 shows Alicia Machado cheering on Trump for making fun of overweight reporters https://t.co/YALh2v4tk9
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 28, 2016
***
