(En español aquí, via Latinocalifornia.com)
Clearly, Alicia Machado has gotten under Donald Trump’s skin. He woke up early this morning and immediately began tweeting more trash about her:
Machado is fast becoming a household name, for the same reason the Khan family is now known across the United States.
Ms. Machado has had direct personal experience with Donald Trump’s racism and sexism, and she dared to speak up. She embarrassed him in front of a national audience. And, as the bully that he is, he fought back the only way he knows: with lies and insults. Meanwhile his friends — so-called Republican leaders — are backing him up instead of calling him out.
Picture the scene: a schoolyard full of kids on recess. After years of just taking and taking it, The Girl finally stands up to The Big Bully. She does it bravely. She does it in front of everyone. How does The Big Bully react? He lashes out, aiming for her most vulnerable places. Her body image. Her sexuality. Her very right to be in this country.
The Big Bully’s allies — in this case, Newt Gingrich and Paul Ryan, among other national Republican figures — either join in the taunts or circle silently behind him. They certainly don’t take The Girl’s side and stand up to him.
In Trump’s Machado Moment, Americans are not only watching how this man behaves: his temperament, his objectification of women, his obvious racism. They’re also watching to see how Republican “leaders” address the issue. So far, they’re still backing him. What a stain on their party.
As Ryan Grim and Emily Peck with the Huffington Post pointed out, it would be “poetic justice” if Trump’s obsessive attacks on two immigrants — Khizr Khan and Alicia Machado — were the straws that broke his campaign’s back.
In this beautiful post “For All the ‘Miss Housekeepings’ — Including My Mom”, my friend Gabe Ortiz wrote: “when Donald Trump attempts to denigrate Alicia Machado as ‘Miss Housekeeping,’ it’s personal. Donald Trump not only insults her, he insults me and the many other US citizens who call housekeepers and domestic workers our mothers. Our message to Donald Trump must be clear: we won’t forget, and we will vote.”
In life, when The Big Bully finally gets taken down, his allies who stood by go down with him. That’s you, Republican leaders.
Voters outraged by Trump’s attacks on women, immigrants, Muslims, and other Americans — even military families and judges — aren’t just appalled and angry at Trump the Bully. Your complicity — active or silent — also enrages.
