Venezuelan-born beauty queen Alicia Machado became a U.S. citizen Friday, and when Miss Universe 1996 casts her first vote in November, it won’t be for the man who once insulted her for her weight and her accent.
In an Instagram posting celebrating her new citizenship, Ms. Machado tweaked Republican presidential nominee and former Miss Universe Organization co-owner Donald Trump, who famously called her an “eating machine” and had her work out at gym in front of reporters and camera crews after a post-pageant weight gain.
“I [sic] so proud and inspiration to be a U.S. Citizen! I’ll be Voting!” Ms. Machado wrote. “All my power and my support become with my next President @hillaryclinton Miss Housekeeping and miss Piggy Can Vote @realdonaldtrump.”
In September, Mr. Trump sold his stake in the Miss Universe Organization after a firestorm over his comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico being rapists and drug dealers.
In recent days Mr. Trump has been seeking to broaden his appeal to Hispanic voters, meeting Saturday with prominent Hispanic leaders and softening his stance on immigration reform this week, much to the concern of activists concerned with curbing illegal immigration.
In two separate posts to her Twitter account Wednesday, Ms. Machado posted what seems a rebuke to online trolls bashing her support of Mrs. Clinton.
“I know it will not be easy! the most beautiful of this country is freedom of expression! https://www.aliciamachado.com,” she wrote, plugging her eponymous website — the content for which is written, like most of her Twitter feed, in Spanish.
“[M]y beautiful people! I’m not a political woman, freedom to choose without aggression is part of being a US citizen,” she added a few hours later.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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