The GOP presidential candidate also says he hardly knows her.
Donald Trump is firing back at the former Miss Universe who claims he called her "Miss Piggy."
Appearing on The O'Reilly Factor Wednesday night, Trump denounced Miss Venezuela Alicia Machado — who was thrust front and center into the election by Hillary Clinton during Monday’s debate.
“She did not do well. She had a lot of difficulty, and, you know, they wanted to fire her," Trump said of Machado. "The company itself wanted to fire her. I saved her job. I saved her job because I said that's what I was going to do. Look what happened? Look what I get out of it? I get nothing.”
He also said he “hardly” knows her, saying: “I mean, look, I hardly know this person. This was a person 20 years ago. She wasn’t a successful, you know, I sold the Miss Universe contest for a tremendous price about, you know, six months ago. Worked out great.”
In an uncovered interview from 1997, Trump was happy with Machado when she won the Miss Universe title the year before.
“Alicia has been a great Miss Universe,” he said. “One of the greatest!”
“She had a little problem where she gained a little weight,” he added.
She shut him down by saying: “I don't think so.”
Trump says Clinton will regret making the former Miss Universe a campaign issue.
“A lot of things are coming out that I wasn’t aware of, like they say that she threatened the life of a judge and got involved in all sorts of problems,” Trump said.
Machado was once suspected of driving the getaway car during an attempted assassination of her boyfriend's brother-in-law. It happened in 1997 in Venezuela.
She denies she committed a crime, and no charges were ever filed. It's also reported that she had a daughter with a notorious Mexican drug kingpin, which she also denies.
Trump surrogates have pointed out that she is the only Miss Universe to ever pose nude for Playboy.
In 1990, Trump himself appeared on the cover of the magazine with a "playmate."
Machado also appeared to be having sex on a risqué Venezuelan reality show.
On Tuesday night, she told Anderson Cooper: “I have a past. We all have a past. I’m no saint.”
Watch: Who Is Alicia Machado? Miss Universe Who Trump Called 'Miss Piggy' Says She'll Vote Hillary
