Olivia Jordan, Miss Oklahoma, was crowned Miss USA on Sunday evening and is making headlines with her eloquent responses to questions regarding race relations. She’s also garnered spotlight for her take on the Donald Trump controversy after being asked to comment on it following the pageant.
Trump, of course, owns the pageant and saw it dropped from NBC after he made comments during his presidential candidacy speech about the Mexican people and why they shouldn’t be allowed to cross the border into the U.S., saying, among other things, that they are “rapists and drug dealers”. At a recent rally in Phoenix, Trump didn’t back down from his previous statements, telling the crowd, “Don’t worry, we’ll take our country back.”
Olivia Jordan says that the Miss USA pageant is not just about Trump and his personal beliefs, and addressed how she plans to move forward.
“We have freedom of speech in this country, and immigration is certainly an important issue. This organization is not one person. It’s definitely not just me. It’s a family. This organization celebrates diversity, and I think that was clear on the stage tonight, and I look forward to spreading a message of love and diversity and acceptance,” Jordan said.
Jordan is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is an actress, having appeared in several commercials and in the feature film Hot Tub Time Machine 2. One of her standout moments during the pageant was during the question and answer portion, where she was given two questions and 30 seconds to answer each. When asked what the U.S. needs to focus on, Jordan responded smoothly and quickly, saying race relations should be a top priority.
“We have not solved this issue. We really need to work on being an accepting society,” Olivia Jordan said.