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November Surprises

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 192: November Surprises

Gingrich Calls Machado the ‘New Benghazi Lie’

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Newt Gingrich called Hillary Clinton’s attack on Donald Trump for mocking former Miss Universe Alicia Machado’s weight “as false as Benghazi” and “the new Benghazi lie,” BuzzFeed reports.

Said Gingrich: “I think as fascinating to look at how the elite media bought — this is the new Benghazi lie — what Hillary tried to set up, and what they spend apparently months preparing was an ambush that was as false as Benghazi. It was as false as her claim she was under fire in Bosnia. It was as false as the lies she told about her emails.”

How Clinton Laid an Elaborate Trap for Trump

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Vox explains how Hillary Clinton’s mention of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado at the first presidential debate had been planned weeks in advance.

Cosmopolitan is out today with a long feature story on Machado headlined ‘Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado Won’t Be Defined by Donald Trump’s Fat-Shaming.’

The author of the story, Prachi Gupta, is the person who conducted a devastating interview with Ivanka Trump earlier in September. The Machado article includes photographs that were taken a week ago, making it clear that the groundwork for the debate moment was laid some time ago…

It turns out Machado also set up an interview with the Guardian’s Lucia Graves, apparently embargoed for post-debate release; the New York Times also has a fresh Machado story based on interviews.

The Clinton campaign also pushed out a video on social media after the debate ended.

First Read: “The personal nature of Trump’s attack, the relatability of a woman’s struggles with body image and the additional allegation that Trump referred to the Latina Miss Universe as “Miss Housekeeping” makes us think that this story isn’t going away soon.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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