A beauty pageant contest has won praise for her speech criticising Donald Trump for not condemning the Charlottesville attack as a terrorism.
Margana Wood, 22, was competing in the Miss America 2018 pageant when a judge asked her about Mr Trump’s statement in hours after James Fields allegedly drove his car into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters at a far right rally in Virginia last month – killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
The President was widely condemned for his response where he blamed violence “from many sides” and refusing to openly condemned the far right who form a key part of his political base.
Pageant judge Jess Cagle asked Ms Woods if Mr Trump was right to say there were more than one group at fault.
But Ms Wood did not waste a second condemning the Republican for not condemning white supremacism.
She said: “I think that the white supremacist issue, it was very obvious, that it was a terrorist attack.
“I think Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing that fact and making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. And that is the number one issue right now.”
The comment won her huge cheers from the audience but it was not enough to win the competition – she eventually came 5th overall.
The Miss America competition, now in its 96th year, is not the same as the Miss USA pageant which was formerly owned by Mr Trump.
In days following Mr Trump’s comments, his approval ratings reached a new low with just 39 per cent of those polled thinking he was doing a good job in the Oval Office – down five points in just one week.
Several CEOs announced they were quitting their roles on two key business advisory councils in protest at Mr Trump’s comments forcing him to disband them altogether.
