>Newt Gingrich criticized Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton of using the media to hit Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In his recent article on Fox News, Gingrich, the 2012 Republican Party presidential nominee, looked back at the details of the first debate between Trump and Clinton to point out how the latter was able use inconsequential topics to manipulate the media in order to tarnish her rival’s public reputation.
One of these is the controversy involving Alicia Machado, the Venezuelan-born beauty queen who won the 1996 Miss Universe.
As pointed out by Gingrich, amidst the significant topics discussed during the debate such as tax returns, restoring law and order and generating jobs within the country, the media centered on Trump allegedly body shaming Machado when she gained weight after she won the Miss Universe crown 20 years ago.
The issue brought up by Clinton regarding Machado should have been regarded as just a minor one especially given the fact that it happened two decades ago. Furthermore, Trump didn’t really personally attack the beauty queen with his comments since as a Miss Universe winner, it was one of her duties to maintain her physical shape.
However, following the debate, news agencies grabbed onto Clinton’s statements against Trump regarding Machado. For days, headlines centered on how the Republican nominee shamed Machado and ruined her life.
According to Gingrich, through this issue, the U.S. media was able to create a heroine who could symbolize Trump’s oppressive nature towards women. But, as Gingrich noted, Clinton only created a fabricated version of Machado to gain widespread support in her campaign against Trump.
But, as Clinton relayed Trump’s alleged body-shaming of Machado, she failed to disclose other details of the beauty queen’s personal life. These included her link to a high-profile Mexican drug lord and how she threatened a Venezuelan prosecutor regarding her boyfriend’s reported murder case.
However, despite the numerous news reports about Trump and Machado, none of these details were brought up. This just goes to show strong Clinton’s grip is on the media on her campaign against Trump.
