Mexico beauty pageant organizers have pulled out of the Miss Universe contest in protest over what it called “racist” remarks which the competition’s co-owner and US presidential hopeful Donald Trump made about Mexicans.
It is the latest fallout from Trump’s comments about migrants, which have outraged Latin Americans and the Hispanic community in the United States and prompted US television giant NBC and Mexican broadcaster Televisa to refuse to broadcast Miss Universe.
Losing a Latin American contestant is a big loss for Miss Universe as the contest is hugely popular in the region, where victory by a nation’s contestant is a source of national pride that can spark street celebrations.
“As a Mexican, I am very offended and angry like everybody else,” former Miss Universe and Nuestra Belleza Mexico pageant director Lupita Jones wrote on Twitter late Monday.
“As a Miss Universe, I think that Donald Trump is doing a lot of harm to the organization,” Jones wrote.
“It’s a shame that because of his racist comments we lose what the contest has promoted and represented during so many years, which is an atmosphere of harmony and peace among nations,” she wrote. “We will not participate in MU (Miss Universe).”
In a rambling campaign announcement last week, Trump lashed out at Mexico and Mexican migrants, saying that they were bringing drugs, crime and “rapists” to the United States.
NBC, which co-owns Miss Universe, and Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language network, announced on Monday that they were severing ties with the real estate mogul, meaning both will not air the contest. [myad]
