Talk of sex tapes takes presidential campaign on sordid turn

As you'll remember, Trump hit hard at Machado for no real reason after Hillary Clinton called out his treatment of women at Monday night's debate, and The Donald's very bad, disgusting attacks continued well through the week.

Clinton, who mentioned Machado in the Monday debate, has blasted Trump's history of abusive remarks that included humiliating the ex-beauty queen over her weight gain and Latina origins, nicknaming her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping".

With less than 40 days left in the election, Trump's broadside threw his campaign into a fresh round of second-guessing the candidate's instincts and confusion about what to do next.

With less than six weeks Trump made reference - without giving evidence - into a sex tape involving Machado, who had publicly denounced him as a bully that was humiliating.

Machado was so outraged that Trump accused her of having a sex tape that she appears to have whipped her shirt off and defiled the American flag to complain about it on Instagram. It also risks calling further attention to the thrice-married Trump's own history with women.

Clinton, hours after Trump lashed Machado, tweeted: "What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?".

Even Trump's most vocal allies seemed at a loss for words.

He said Mr Trump sometimes does "strange things", but that Mrs Clinton lies: "I'll let you decide which is worse for America".

But Trump's inner circle followed his lead by refusing to concede any missteps.

Mr Trump did not mention the tweets on Friday evening as he rallied supporters in MI.

"For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o'clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake to answer the call", he said, referencing Clinton's 2008 attack on President Obama about his own readiness to serve.

Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said Machado had gained a "massive amount of weight" after her pageant win and that it was a "real problem".

Warren, who has campaigned for Clinton, contended that the businessman doesn't "tweet at 3 a.m. with ways to help students getting crushed by debt or seniors struggling on Social Security" or about how to create new jobs for workers and to enhance Wall Street accountability.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll, released on Friday, showed Clinton leading by 43 percent to Trump's 38 percent among likely voters.

Clinton had raised Trump's treatment of Machado as an example of how the Republican presidential nominee views women.

While the video doesn't feature Trump's nudity or show him engaging in sexual activity, it does show the Donald popping a foaming bottle of champagne which he then pours salaciously all over a playboy logo standing arm-in-arm with a crew of playmates. I became a United States citizen because my daughter was born here and because I wanted to exercise my rights, among them, I wanted to vote. The issue dominating the the campaign is Donald Trump's growing fight with a former miss universe.

However, Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri denied that the former Secretary of the State had any involvement in obtaining citizenship for Machado.

Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges calls Clinton a "liar" and says she deserves to lose. He also guaranteed to strike Clinton in their next debate, on October 9, implying he might assault Clinton on the infidelities of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

The Washington Post reports that the commercial will be part of the campaign's $7.5-million ad buy, targeting cable networks and prime-time shows with large female audiences such as Lifetime and "Dancing with the Stars".