Trump ready to drag Bill Clinton sex scandals into US campaign

Washington: Donald Trump indicated in a new interview that he's ready to drag ex-president Bill Clinton's sex scandals into the White House campaign, after Democrats lashed out at the billionaire's Twitter rant against a pro-Hillary ex-Miss Universe.

Trump told The New York Times that he believes talking about the sex scandals that stained the career of Hillary's husband Bill would turn female voters away from her.

"She's nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be," Trump told the Times in an interview posted late yesterday.

He added: "Hillary Clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics," referring to Bill Clinton (president 1993-2001).

"Hillary was an enabler, and she attacked the women who Bill Clinton mistreated afterward. I think it's a serious problem for them, and it's something that I'm considering talking about more in the near future," he told the newspaper.

In an apparent effort to pre-empt the attacks, the Clinton campaign released audio of Bill Clinton talking about his marriage with Hillary.

"I think that she has literally spent a lifetime dealing with not only her joys and her blessings, but also heartbreaks and disappointment, and sometimes unfair treatment," a reflective Bill says.

Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Florida on Saturday, described Trump as "unhinged" after the Republican presidential candidate unleashed a volley of pre-dawn tweets early yesterday against former beauty queen Alicia Machado.

The Venezuela-born Machado claims the billionaire bullied her mercilessly after winning the Trump-owned Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1996.

"Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a US citizen so she could use her in the debate?" said Trump, in one of a series of virulent tweets.

According to the fact-checking website Snopes, Trump's sex tape allegation apparently refers to Machado's appearance on a reality TV show in which she is shown in bed, under covers, with another participant.

Machado also appeared in Playboy magazine. But a pornographic video circulated in recent years purporting to star the former Miss Universe was debunked as a fake.

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."