Every day in 2016 is unlike anything we've seen before in presidential politics. September 30th was no different. The day began with Donald Trump tweeting about a sex tape at 5:30 AM and ended with news breaking of Trump's brief appearance in a soft-core Playboy film. The issue is not his cameo but his hypocrisy (and sexism) in trying to shame former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, by falsely claiming that she had a "sex tape."
An offensive early morning tweetstorm from Trump against Alicia Machado captivated the political world:
Trump's attempt to shame Machado was met with appropriate criticism.
Wonder how Trump’s evangelical supporters feel about being urged to “check out sex tape.”
— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) September 30, 2016
Woman reports abuse from a man; man replies "check out her sex tape." Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, etc. https://t.co/tlCPdUxAhn
— Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) September 30, 2016
This is Khan-level, 2am-unhinged, Twitter-unravelling. Trump proves again how easy he is to bait on twitter https://t.co/zpapW53Re4 #scary
— Bryna (@BrynaTweets) September 30, 2016
It boggles the mind that Trump woke up around 5 am and decided to send three Machado tweets before 6.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 30, 2016
"Who gets up at 3 o'clock in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack against a former Miss Universe?” —Hillary
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
Hours later, BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski tweeted this:
"BuzzFeed News obtained the footage from online-only Buffalo, New York-based adult video store, Cinema Cornucopia." https://t.co/kSgXrml5Yq
— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) September 30, 2016
Which elicited another round of commentary:
Filed under "things I never thought I'd say about politics": Trump has no room to talk re ... porn tapes... 😖😤😫 https://t.co/1USHNLklYM
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) September 30, 2016
.@NickMerrill gives good quote. pic.twitter.com/RJUkPuiS4q
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) September 30, 2016