Beauty-pageant interviews tend to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Usually, answers become famous by being the subject of mockery for a flubbed phrase or a nonsensical answer (see recent response by Miss South Carolina in 2007 and Miss Utah in 2013).
But a couple contestants in Sunday’s Miss USA pageant drew attention for coherent answers on some relatively touchy issues. The problem was that Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez and Miss Louisiana Brittany Guidry’s views on a couple issues of the day didn’t sit well with liberal commentators.
Take Sanchez, who went on to win the competition. When asked to address sexual assault on college campuses, her suggestion that women should learn self-defense abilities proved controversial.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_aHF2v5ucGQ
“I’m glad that we got our guy back, however I do not feel it is right we subject ourselves to the effects of terrorism,” she said, drawing cheers from the audience. “I do agree with our guy being home,” she said.
It’s been widely argued that the prisoners handed over to free Bergdahl, who many fellow soldiers have alleged deserted his unit, were too high a price to pay. The experts sharing her view include House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers, former Obama defense secretary Leon Panetta, and U.S. senator John McCain. But plenty took jabs at Guidry’s supposedly unwise response anyway, with Democratic strategist and former Obama-campaign staffer Greg Pinelo joining in the criticism:
https://twitter.com/gregpinelo/statuses/476031007905181696
Despite the liberal opprobrium for their answers, the two controversial queens did quite well for themselves: Sanchez took home the crown, and Guidry finished as the third runner-up in the contest.
— Andrew Johnson is an editorial associate at National Review Online.