Alicia Machado has a response for Trump: “I wanted to exercise all my rights, among them, voting”

Alicia Machado — a former Miss Universe contestant and once the subject of Donald Trump’s fat-shaming and racially charged comments — has responded to Trump’s series of early morning tweets alleging she has a “terrible” past.

“The Republican candidates and his campaign team are once again generating attacks, insults and trying to revive defamation and false accusations about my life,” Machado posted in both Spanish and English on her Instagram.

Machado gained prominence in the election cycle after Clinton cited her during the final moments of the presidential debate Monday night, saying Trump called her “Miss Piggy” for gaining weight and “Miss Housekeeping” for being Latina.

Since then, Trump has been attempting to defend himself, launching a smear campaign against Machado, calling her “disgusting,” citing an alleged sex tape, and noting she has a “terrible” past.

The Clinton campaign responded to Trump with its own series of tweets, calling him “unhinged.” Campaign reporters also noted that Clinton herself called Machado on the way to the airport on the trail today.

Machado, in her statement, says she will not back away from her remarks about Trump.

“I will continue standing up and sharing my story, my absolute support to Mrs. Clinton in the name of women, my sisters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends and the feminine community,” she wrote in her post.

Here’s Machado’s full statement:

"The Republican candidates and his campaign team are once again generating attacks, insults and trying to revive defamation and false accusations about my life. All this with the goal of intimidating, humiliating and throwing me off balance once again. The attacks that have surged are calumnies and cheap lies generated with bad intentions that don't have any basis and have been spread by yellow journalists. This, of course, is not the first time that I face a situation like this. Through his campaign of hate, the Republican candidate insists on discrediting and demoralizing women, which is definitely one of his most terrifying characteristics. With this, he seeks to distract from attention to his real problems and his incapacity to pretend he is the leader of this great country.

When I was barely a young woman the current candidate humiliated me, insulted me, and publicly disrespected me, as he used to do in private in the most cruel way. Just like what happened to me, it's clear through the years that his actions and conduct have been repeated with other women through the decades. Therefore, I will continue standing up and sharing my story, my absolute support to Mrs. Clinton in the name of women, my sisters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends and the feminine community. To my Latinas and in general, I want to thank everyone for their support, love and the respect toward my career, myself and my family. I became a citizen of this great nation because my daughter was born here and I wanted to exercise all my rights, among them, voting.

I will continue standing firm in my experiences as Miss Universe and with you supporting me. I have been so pleased by so many kind words, by so much love. I am focusing on my career, my job as a mother and I will continue taking positive steps for the Latino community, I will continue as an activist for women's rights and for the respect we deserve. I appreciate all your love and once again, thank you for your support. Thousands of blessings."

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