Mexico pulls out of Miss Universe following Donald Trump's immigration remarks
Mexico has pulled out of Donald Trump's Miss Universe pageant following remarks the property tycoon and reality TV star made about immigrants to America.
Former beauty queen Lupita Jones, who was crowned Miss Universe in 1991, made the announcement via Twitter.com on Tuesday (30Jun15), insisting pageant co-owner Trump had done "great harm" to the organization by suggesting many Mexicans in America were "rapists" bringing drugs and crime to the United States, during a speech to announce his candidacy for president earlier this month (Jun15).
His comments sent shockwaves through the Latino community,
prompting TV bosses at Univision, Televisa and NBC to drop their
coverage of his pageants and forcing Roselyn Sanchez, J Balvin and
Cristian de la Fuente to pull out of appearances at July's (15)
Miss USA.
And now Mexican pageant bosses have given Trump and his partners
another black eye by choosing not to enter a candidate for Miss
Universe.
Jones, a member of the panel choosing a potential Miss Mexico for
the Miss Universe spectacular, writes, "Miss Universe is a contest
with a great history in the world, which has been characterized by
convening countries to participate in an event where friendship and
unity is prominent, breaking down cultural barriers. It's a shame
that because of his (Trump) racist comments we lose what the
competition has promoted and represented for so many years in an
atmosphere of harmony and peace among nations."
The news comes hours after another Miss USA co-host, Cheryl Burke,
announced she'd no longer be a part of the show.
The Dancing With the Stars professional released a statement on
Tuesday, which read: "In light of the recent statements made by
Donald Trump and the subsequent decision by NBC to cut ties with
Mr. Trump, I cannot in good conscience move forward with
participating in this year's Miss USA Pageant as its co-host.
"Effective today I have withdrawn from my duties with Miss USA.
Although I will not be there in person, I wish all of the
contestants much luck as I know how hard they've all been working
over the last year to try and realize their dreams."
Meanwhile, Trump, who is one of the owners of the Miss Universe
Organization which oversees Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen
USA, has filed a $500 million (GBP333 million) lawsuit against
Univision bosses following their decision not to broadcast the Miss
USA pageant next month (Jul15).
In a new statement obtained by Variety, the tycoon writes: "Nothing
that I stated was different from what I have been saying for many
years. I want strong borders, and I do not support or condone
illegal immigration. There is a high level of crime occurring in
this country due to unchecked illegal immigration. This is a major
security issue for the United States.
"Additionally, the terrible trade deals our government is routinely
entering into with Mexico are causing great financial harm to our
country. We are losing a huge number of jobs, manufacturing
opportunities and money due to poorly negotiated trade deals, a
fact that is indisputable. That won't happen if I become president;
this disturbing trend will end and it will end quickly."