Two former Miss Universe pageant staffers say now-President Donald Trump would veto women of color if there were “too many” in the contest he used to run, according to a new report.
Mother Jones posted an excerpt from the upcoming book Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump, where it details Trump’s Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Russia in 2013.
While his time in Russia has been the subject of speculation as the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election continues, the book does mention some of Trump’s decisions while running the Miss Universe contest. The 2013 pageant is allegedly where the so-called “pee tape” was filmed.
Before each contest, Trump would reportedly review footage of the women—in gowns and swim wear—who judges had chosen to advance.
Trump would toss out finalists and replace them with women he preferred, according to the excerpt, and two former staffers for the contest said he would replace women of color.
“If there were too many women of color, he would make changes,” one staffer said.
Another former staffer added:
“He often thought a woman was too ethnic or too dark-skinned. He had a particular type of woman he thought was a winner. Others were too ethnic. He liked a type.”
The same former staffer told the authors that he would reject contestants who had “snubbed his advances.”
Last month, a New Yorker report detailed how Trump would rig the pageants in favor of women who were from countries that he had strong business ties. The now-president also attacked former pageant contests during the 2016 election, calling Alicia Machado “Miss Piggy” after she supported Hillary Clinton.
You can read all of the Mother Jones excerpt here.
