AP FACT CHECK: Trump encouraged people to check out sex tape


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WASHINGTON (AP) — A claim from the second presidential debate and how it stacks up with the facts:

DONALD TRUMP, asked whether his early morning tweets directing people to check out a sex tape showed discipline, said: "It wasn't 'check out a sex tape.'"

THE FACTS: Wrong. Trump told his 12.2 million Twitter followers to check out a sex tape as he criticized a former Miss Universe.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 30, Trump tweeted, "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?"

Trump's tweet was an attack on former 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado, a woman who Clinton brought up in the last presidential debate as an example of Trump's derogatory comments about women. The video Trump appeared to be referencing was from a Spanish reality show. In 2005, Machado, who was a contestant on the show, was filmed in bed, under the covers with a male contestant and speaking sexually about his body parts. The grainy footage doesn't show any nudity, though Machado has said that she was having sex in the footage.

Machado, a Venezuela-born woman who is now a U.S. citizen, has publicly supported Clinton and criticized Trump for body-shaming her, including calling her "Miss Piggy" and threatening to take away her crown for gaining weight. Trump has stood by his criticisms of Machado's weight, saying in a recent interview with Fox News: "She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem."

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Contributed by Associated Press writer Chad Day.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures

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