Brazilian claims to be John McCain’s old flame

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A former model and ballerina is making headlines across Brazil after claiming she was John McCain’s lover 51 years ago, reports the Associated Press.

Maria Gracinda Teixeira, 77, says she is the woman the Republican presidential candidate fondly described -- though never named -- in his 1999 book ‘Faith of My Fathers.’’

In the book, McCain said he met a ‘’Brazilian fashion model’’ as a young Navy sailor in Rio de Janeiro when the destroyer USS Hunt docked in the city for a week in 1957. McCain was stationed on the ship.

Local reporters tracked her down late last week, turning Teixeira into an overnight media sensation.

Read more about Maria Gracinda Teixeira and her claimed links to McCain here.

-- Deborah Bonello