President Donald Trump was a topic of controversy at the Miss America pageant last night, as two contestants vocally disagreed the commander-in-chief’s actions during the question-and-answer portion.
The woman-who-would-be-crowned Miss America, 23-year-old Cara Mund from North Dakota, condemned Trump over his views on global warming. Mund, who’s a student at Brown University, was then quizzed about her views on the Paris Climate Accord and whether Trump’s decision to reject the agreement was correct or incorrect. She agreed with the latter.
“I do believe it’s a bad decision,” she said. “Once we reject that, we take ourselves out of the negotiation table and that’s something that we really need to keep in mind. There is evidence that climate change is existing. So whether you believe it or not, we need to be at that table, and I just think it’s a bad decision on behalf of the United States.”
.@MissAmericaND answers a question from @mariamenounos! #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/RkK4j4ideZ
— Miss America (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017
Mund’s response was met with applause and cheers from the very start of her statement. And she wasn’t the only contestant to criticize the president. Miss Texas Margana Wood was asked about President Trump’s response to the Charlottesville white supremacist protesters, and she proceeded to condemn both the president and the white supremacists.
“I think that the white supremacist issue, it was very obvious, that it was a terrorist attack,” Wood told People’s Jess Cagle. “And I think that President Donald Trump should’ve made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. That is the number one issue right now.”
.@MissAmericaTX is up next and she will be answering a question from @MrJessCagle. #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/WbSBx3c5Ul
— Miss America (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017
Wood’s answer was similarly met with cheers and applause from the crowd.
For two contestants to take such a strong stance against the president’s actions is unprecedented for the Miss America pageant. But this isn’t the first time that Miss America has turned political. In 2016, Miss Dakota’s Erin O’Flaherty made history as Miss America’s first openly gay contestant. And in 2013, nerds across the internet were duped by a fake photo of Miss America winner Nina Davuluri that showed her in Jedi cosplay, sparking a larger conversation about women in geekdom and feminism.