September 11, 2017

Miss America Contestants Take on Trump Over Paris Climate Accord, Charlottesville

“There is evidence that climate change is existing and we need to be at that table.”

On Sunday, Cara Mund, a 23-year-old graduate from Brown University, was crowned the newest Miss America, making her the first contestant from North Dakota to win the title. But it’s her critical response to a question regarding the president and climate change that appears to be eclipsing her historic win.

“I do believe it’s a bad decision,” Mund said when asked about Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate treaty. “Once we reject that, we take ourselves out of the negotiation table and that’s something that we really need to keep in mind. There is evidence that climate change is existing.”

“So whether you believe it or not, we need to be at that table and I just think it’s a bad decision on behalf of the United States.”

While Miss Texas Margana Wood did not win the Miss America crown, she sparked loud applause with one answer criticizing the president’s response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. 

“I think that the white supremacist issue, it was very obvious that it was a terrorist attack,” she said. “I think that President Donald Trump should’ve made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. That is the number one issue right now.” 

As of Monday morning, Trump has yet to attack either contestant on social media.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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