A 26-year-old Army officer is the newly crowned 2016 Miss USA.
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Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin, who came in second to victor Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia, punted when asked who she would vote for among the likely presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Miss District of Columbia, Deshauna Barber, gave a strong answer when asked about women in combat.
Her powerful response: “As a woman in the United States Army, I think it was an incredible job by our government to allow women to integrate into every branch of the military”. Asked about what might be done to ease economic inequality in the United States (which, to be fair, is a tough question to answer in under a minute), she choked.
Barber, who will go on to compete in the Miss Universe Pageant, will receive a one-year scholarship from the New York Film Academy, living expenses in a Manhattan apartment, modeling portfolio, and a full-time team including a professional wardrobe stylist, hair stylist, and fitness trainers.
Most Diplomatic Answer: Miss Georgia, Miss Hawaii, Miss District of Columbia, Miss Alabama, and Miss California all made it to the Interview portion of the evening, which meant they got to roll out their best moves while side-stepping the judges’ questions with the most diplomatic answers possible.
Donald Trump may no longer own Miss USA, but the presidential candidate still had quite a presence at the 2016 Miss USA Pageant.
“My commander should be watching right now”, Barber said.
WINNER: Miss District of Columbia, Deshauna Barber! Steve Harvey appears Barber won the pageant ahead of first runner-up Chelsea Hardin, Miss Hawaii, and second runner-up Emanii Davis, Miss Georgia. She says Miss Hawaii “answered beautifully”.
The victor of Sunday’s pageant will compete in the Miss Universe contest.
Deshauna will now represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant.
During the show, the 20-year-old from Diamond Bar talked about suffering from anorexia and wanting to promote body confidence. The event was hosted by Julianna Hough and Terrence Kenkins with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Ashley Graham providing backstage commentary. Trump owned the pageant from 1996 to 2015 but Trump sold the company last September when he had a falling out with broadcasters over comments he made regarding Mexicans.
The Fox network will carry the broadcast at 7 p.m. EDT.
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In addition to contestants representing each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the pageant also named a “Miss 52 U.S.”.
