Miss America Contestant Criticizes Trump During Interview Question

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Miss West Virginia Criticizes Trump During Interview Question

The 2018 Miss America pageant is underway, and one contestant has some words for Donald Trump.

Madeline Collins, Miss West Virginia, was asked an onstage question Friday night about what she feels is the most serious issue facing the nation. She responded by saying that Trump “has caused a lot of division” in the nation.

She replied, “Donald Trump is the biggest issue our country faces. Unfortunately he has caused a lot of division in our country.”

The interview responses were limited to only a small 20 second window, so Collins did not go into additional detail. The Miss America Organization rejected a request from the Associated Press to make Collins available for an interview after Friday night’s competition had ended.

After flaming the Cheeto-in-Chief, Miss West Virginia did not end up winning the interview contest–That victory went to Miss Massachusetts Gabriela Taveras, whose question dealt with how Americans traveling abroad should interact with people in other countries.

The onstage interview has replaced the swimsuit competition in this year’s pageant, a change that has created controversy due to many feeling like the pageant needed to be modernized–but of course, many fans feel like they lost an integral part of the show.

Friday marked the third and final night of preliminary competition in the Miss America competition. During the first two nights of the competition, some of the onstage interview questions have touched on the hottest issues of the moment, of course including NFL national anthem protests.

Miss Virginia Emili McPhail got a preliminary win Thursday night after she told judges players have the right to protest by kneeling, noting that the real issue is police brutality.

The next Miss America will be crowned Sunday night in the nationally televised finale from Atlantic City, New Jersey.