Miss Michigan winner stripped of title over offensive posts

Miss Michigan 2019 winner Kathy Zhu was stripped of her title on Thursday for “offensive, insensitive and inappropriate” social media posts, she said Thursday.

Zhu, 20, tweeted Thursday what appeared to be a screenshot of an email she received from Miss World America officials, who told her she was dismissed from being a pageant participant.

“Miss World America’s State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive,” Zhu tweeted. “They stripped me of my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and ‘insensitive’ statistical tweets.” 

Miss World America’s State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive.

They stripped me of my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and “insensitive” statistical tweets. pic.twitter.com/K1Btho0Pgq

— Kathy Zhu (@PoliticalKathy) July 19, 2019

{mosads}A screenshot of an email, which was copied to the national director and the chief operating officer of the organization, said Zhu, a University of Michigan student, allegedly violated the contestant requirement of “being of good character” and not being “likely to bring into disrepute Miss World America or any person associated with the organization.”

Zhu is a political commentator known as @PoliticalKathy on Twitter and Facebook and an open supporter of President Trump. In 2018, she approached a Muslim Student Association booth and declined to wear a hijab, later tweeting that “there is a ‘try a hijab on’ booth at my college campus.

“So you’re telling me that it’s now just a fashion accessory and not a religious thing?” she tweeted, according to the Detroit Free Press. “Or are you just trying to get women used to being oppressed under Islam?”

In a second incident, the Free Press reports, Zhu replied to a Twitter user in a comment saying: “Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community before blaming others.”

Both tweets have since been deleted.

Zhu told Yahoo Lifestyle that pageant officials knew about her social media pages before she became a contestant but claim they were misled because of her legal Chinese name. She alleged that the organization “discriminate[s] against people with conservative views.”

Miss World America did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

“Someone called me an islamophobic for not wanting to put on a hijab. Someone called me a racist because I recognize that black people kill more blacks than police do,” Zhu tweeted Thursday. “Good luck to those who are as gullible as this.”

Someone called me an islamophobic for not wanting to put on a hijab.

Someone called me a racist because I recognize that black people kill more blacks than police do.

Good luck to those who are as gullible as this.

— Kathy Zhu (@PoliticalKathy) July 19, 2019