Newly crowned Miss USA Cheslie Kryst had a quick answer when asked if she would have competed in the pageant under President Trump’s ownership: “I’m not sure.”
Trump co-owned the organization — which includes the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants — for almost 20 years before selling his ownership in 2015 following backlash that met his presidential campaign announcement, in which he labeled many Mexican immigrants “rapists.”
And Trump’s controversies in the pageant world go back even further. In 1997 he publicly lambasted the reigning Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, for gaining weight. During his presidential campaign he attacked Machado again, urging the public to “check out [her] sex tape.”
In contrast, Kryst has made headlines for fighting against sexual harassment in the workplace. She defended the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements while competing for her Miss USA crown, and video of the moment onstage in Reno, Nev., went viral.
