Trump sex tape comments frustrate GOP supporters
Donald Trump’s middle-of-the-night tweets about a beauty queen sex tape are frustrating Republican supporters, who worry once again that their candidate’s lack of discipline will hamper his campaign.
They say Trump needs to keep his focus on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, prepare for their second debate, on Oct. 9 in St. Louis, and quit taking the bait from Democrats.
“It’s unlikely the Miss Universe flap is hurting Trump with current supporters, but it’s hard to see how it helps grow our vote,” said one GOP lawmaker who supports Trump.
“Maybe it's quaint conventional wisdom. But it seems he would help himself to talk about the real world problems that every day voters face,” the lawmaker said.
Trump has not been able to let go his feud with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.
In a series of tweets beginning at 3:19 a.m. on Friday and ending at 5:30 a.m., the New York billionaire sought to discredit Machado by drawing attention to tawdry details about her past, including allegations — debunked by fact-checkers — that she has filmed a “sex tape.”
Those allegations reignited Democratic attacks against Trump over his treatment of Machado just as the issue seemed ready to peter out.
Clinton already had been doing everything she could to keep the Machado story going, believing Trump’s fat-shaming of the Venezuelan would help her with both women and Hispanic voters.
She responded to Trump’s tweet-storm with her own series of tweets, calling Trump “unhinged.”
“What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?,” Clinton tweeted.
“When something gets under Donald's thin skin, he lashes out and can't let go,” she said. “This is dangerous for a president. To Donald, women like Alicia are only as valuable as his personal opinion about their looks.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
