Dethroned Miss Michigan Says Liberals Can't Accept Her Views

Even before she returned the crown and sash, Kathy Zhu said she doesn't regret the social media posts that cost her the Miss Michigan crown last week. Zhu held the title for one day before she received a text from a pageant official saying: "Do not go out representing Michigan World America. We do have a problem." Pageant officials took her title, Zhu said, per CNN, because of "my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and 'insensitive' statistical tweets." Zhu has tweeted what she says is the text conversation between her and the official, Laurie DeJack.

Zhu went on Fox and CNN on Monday to defend herself. The tweet that said "the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks" was taken out of context, she said, because it was in response to someone who had tweeted Vice President Mike Pence to "stop killing black people." Although she didn't back down from it in interviews, her tweet on hijabs seems to have been deleted. Zhu said she received much support at first, when "conservative media" picked up the story, but that reaction turned negative once "the liberal media took everything and basically smeared my name." She said liberals can't accept a conservative viewpoint, especially from someone who's a minority. Zhu said photos of her in a MAGA hat set off liberals. She'd like to foster an actual conversation about political issues, she said. In fact, Zhu said she'd like to be a news host or political commentator. First, she plans to drop the crown and sash off at DeJack's house. (More beauty pageant stories.)