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MPWMost Powerful Women

Miss America Contestants Slam Donald Trump on Climate, Charlottesville Response

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
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By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
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September 11, 2017, 11:44 AM ET

Donald Trump is well known for his love of beauty queens—but they don’t necessarily love him back.

A number of contestants in the Miss America beauty pageant slammed the president’s policies during the ceremony in Atlantic City, N.J. on Sunday.

Miss Texas Morgana Wood made a strongly-worded statement about his delayed response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

“It was very obvious that it was a terrorist attack,” Wood said. “And I think that President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact and making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. That is the number one issue right now.”

Miss Texas was asked if Trump handled Charlottesville badly. She, uh … didn't play. 🇺🇸 #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/5JMT4tBpeL

— shauna (@goldengateblond) September 11, 2017

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Meanwhile, Miss North Dakota Cara Mund—the pageant’s winner—said Trump was wrong to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, which deals with mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s a bad decision,” she said. “There is evidence that climate change is existing and we need to be at that table.”

Mund did, however, tell the Associated Press that she is still a Trump supporter: “I may not agree with all of his opinions, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to support the president.”

President Trump is a former owner of the Miss Universe franchise, which owns Miss USA, a competing beauty pageant to Miss America.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
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