Donald Trump has had such a bad week, he now needs to look up to see rock bottom.
Just last Monday, national polls had him tied or leading rival Hillary Clinton. Polls in battleground states showed the GOP nominee was headed in the right direction.
And then … Trump went into a mostly self-inflicted downward spiral that is now threatening his entire campaign.
Here is a recap of the Trump’s terrible, terrible week:
Monday, Sept. 26:
9:34 p.m. EST: Trump hands Clinton one of the biggest gifts of her campaign during the first presidential debate in New York. After Clinton suggested he may have paid “nothing in federal taxes,” Trump shot back, “That makes me smart.”
10:20 p.m.: Trump defends calling former Miss-Universe Alicia Machado “Miss Piggy.”
11:45 p.m.: CNN snap poll shows Clinton handily defeated Trump at Monday’s presidential debate, despite Trump’s insistence that non-scientific online polls proved he was the winner. CNN poll shows 62 percent of viewers believe Clinton won, while only 27 percent thought Trump came out on top.
Tuesday, Sept. 27
6:09 a.m.: Trump calls into “Fox & Friends” to tell them that Machado “had gained massive amounts of weight” during her reign, reigniting the controversy and potentially alienating both women and Latino voters.
7:03 p.m.: The Arizona Republic, typically a conservative paper, endorses Hillary Clinton, its first Democrat since 1890 founding.
Wednesday, Sept. 28
New polls show Clinton enjoying a bounce.
8:08 p.m.: Trump digs his heels in, telling Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that he “hardly knew” Machado and insisting he “saved” her job.
Thursday Sept. 29
6:42 a.m.: A bombshell Newsweek investigation reveals Trump broke the Cuban embargo in the late 1990s just months before telling a Florida audience that he would never do business in in the Caribbean island while Fidel Castro was still in power. The article, by Kurt Eichenwald,could alienate Republican Cuban voters in Miami-Dade, a crucial voting block for Trump.
11:05 a.m.: Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway lets it slip that Trump did in fact spend money in Cuba during the embargo.
5:31 p.m.: Washington Post publishes damning article showing that Trump’s charitable foundation never obtained a New York state certification to solicit money from the public.
7:34 p.m.: A member of the Wall Street Journal’s largely conservative editorial board endorses Hillary Clinton.
Sept. 30
12:54 a.m.: USA Today breaks a 34-year tradition of not taking sides in the presidential race, publishing a scathing editorial that doesn’t exactly endorse a candidate, but instead advises its readers not to vote for one … Donald Trump.
3:20 a.m.: Trump goes on a wee-hour Twitter tirade as he urges the American public to check out an alleged Machado sex tape, which turned out to be a grainy night-vision video of a risqué — but not nude — scene while appearing on a reality show.
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
2:37 p.m.: Trump defends his Machado tweets, telling his followers: “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!”
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
5:39 p.m.: BuzzFeed takes Trump on his offer… But what they find instead is an old softcore porn starring not Machado, but Trump himself.
Saturday, Oct. 1
8:10 p.m.: New York Times says Donald Trump’s tax records show he could have avoided paying any federal taxes for nearly two decades.
9:45 p.m.: Donald Trump mocks Hillary Clinton pneumonia scare during a rally in Pennsylvania.
10:56 p.m.: Trump suggests Clinton cheated on her husband. “I don’t even think she’s loyal to Bill,” he tells supporters in Manheim, Pennsylvania.
Sunday, Oct. 2
9:08 a.m.: Former New York City Mayor and Trump surrogate Rudy Giuilaini says Trump is a “genius” for not paying taxes.
Monday, Oct. 3
11:59 am: Trump Foundation ordered to stop fundraising in New York.
1:36 p.m.: Another Eichenwald Newsweek report shows Trump opted to purchase his steel and aluminum from Chinese manufacturers rather than American companies for at two of last construction projects.
5:55 p.m : The Associated Press publishes scathing report suggesting a pattern of sexual harassment on Trump’s “The Apprentice.”