Late Monday: Trump brags about having the class not to bring up Bill Clinton's infidelities during the debate.Late Monday/early Tuesday: A number of media outlets, including Cosmo and the Guardian, run stories on Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe who Clinton brought up in the debate. Machado had said in May that Trump called her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" after she gained weight, but Clinton's bringing up of the story gave it new life.Tuesday morning: Trump calls into Fox & Friends, which has become his usual forum for addressing breaking news. Instead of expressing any regret about his fat-shaming of Machado, he doubled down, saying, "She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem." The Clinton campaign was already pushing the story to reporters, and Trump seems dead-set on helping them.Also on Tuesday: Trump continues to claim he won the debate, but also makes excuses for his performance, saying that his mic was defective and that he was "holding back" because he didn't want to "embarrass" Chelsea Clinton, apparently another shot at Bill's affairs.More from Tuesday: Clinton addresses Trump's complaints to reporters on her plane, saying, "Anyone who complains about his microphone is not having a good night.""Whoooo!" the reporters say in response.Thank you! Four new — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)September 27, 2016
Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an 'angel' without checking her past, which is terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)September 30, 2016
Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)September 30, 2016
That "sex tape," by the way, doesn't exist—Trump might have been referring to a bit on a reality show where Machado was filmed supposedly having sex with another contestant. He also might have been referring to nothing. But you know, what does exist?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?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)September 30, 2016
Saturday: Leaked audio of Clinton critiquing the idealism of Bernie Sanders's supporters circulates. So at Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, he's naturally prepared to make a statement about this new damaging piece of news. But as the Washington Post reported:"It took Trump nearly 25 minutes to read the brief statement because he kept going off on one angry tangent after another—ignoring his teleprompters and accusing Clinton of not being 'loyal' to her husband, imitating her buckling at a memorial service last month, suggesting that she is 'crazy,' and saying she should be in prison. He urged his mostly white crowd of supporters to go to polling places in 'certain areas' on Election Day to 'watch' the voters there. He also repeatedly complained about having a 'bum mic' at the first presidential debate and wondered if he should have done another season of The Apprentice."Literally almost at the same time as Trump was rambling about all that: The Times publishes a story on Trump's 1995 tax return, three pages of which were anonymously sent to a reporter. The big takeaway is that he declared more than $900 million in loses, meaning he could likely avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years. This shows: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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)September 30, 2016
B. That the tax code is biased in favor of uber-wealthy people, who are the only ones who can make use of these write-offs
C. That Trump, as a new Clinton campaign ad alleges, "is a business failure who has gotten rich at your expense"
D. That there is stuff just as damaging in Trump's more recent tax returns, which is why he has refused to release them in defiance of political convention
or E. Some combination of the above.Sunday morning: The tax returns are discussed ad nauseum on the political talk shows. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani compares Trump to Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill. New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who is heading up Trump's transition team, calls it a "very good story" that demonstrates "the genius of Donald Trump."Oh I forgot, sorry: Christie himself is having a bad week, with a former aide in the "Bridgegate" trial detailing how the governor allegedly bought the support of politicians with gifts, including steel from the 9/11 site, and how the governor knew about the plan to close the George Washington Bridge in order to punish a mayor who refused to back Christie.
Melania and I extend our warmest greetings to those observing Rosh Hashanah here in the United States, in Israel, and around the world.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)October 2, 2016