Trump-supporting Ms. Nevada claims she was stripped of title because of her conservative views
The winner of Ms. Nevada 2019, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, claims that she was stripped of her title and disqualified from the upcoming Ms. America Pageant after voicing her conservative values on social media.
However, according to pageant organizers, it was the former beauty queen's violation of the pageant’s rules and regulations, which states that the pageant is a "No Politics pageant,” that lead to her exclusion.
Katie Williams, 29, shared an eight minute-long video on both her Facebook and Instagram page in which Williams claims she was informed on Sunday that she was disqualified from the upcoming Ms. America competition, which will take place this Saturday.
"I just don't understand how you can censor someone with conservative values when I'm not even really saying anything that's bad," Williams, who was crowned in April, said in the video. "If I had more liberal views, less conservative views, this wouldn't be an issue."
Williams, who was deployed with the Army National Guard to Afghanistan in 2008-09 and is currently a fitness instructor, goes on to claim that she and coordinators of the pageant had exchanged "many" emails in which she was told she was "too political to be in the pageant."
However, according to a statement from the Ms. America Pageant, "Katie Williams is distorting the facts."
"ALL the pageant asked of Ms. Williams, in writing, is to keep separate social media accounts (ie: Facebook). One is for politics where she can voice her own opinion as Katie Williams and the other is a new Facebook page for the pageant representing Ms. Nevada State 2019," the statement read. "None of this had to do with her personal political views...She could be a President Trump supporter on her Personal Facebook page all she wants for everyone to read. However, the Ms. Nevada Facebook Page should be devoid of political content."
The statement goes on to outline the pageant's rules and regulations included in their contracts.
The eligibility requirements read: "Pageants and Politics don't mix! I understand that the pageant is a No Politics pageant and I will not post political statements, opinions or anything that could be misconstrued as a political statement or opinion on any forum of social media, media or Internet. I will not use my title to endorse any political figure or promote any political agenda or anything that could be misconstrued as a political figure or political agenda."
The agreement was hand-signed by Williams.
Williams claims that she did create a separate social media account, but alleges an official "continued to screenshot my page, my personal page, and email me about how she was disappointed and she didn’t agree with it and that I needed to speak with her on the phone."
According to Ms. America CEO Susan Jeske, Williams continued to make mentions of the Ms. America competition on her personal page.
"If you're putting pageant stuff on your personal page, then that's a pageant page," Jeske told NBC.
On Williams' personal Instagram, a photo of her in the Ms. Nevada sash and crown are featured, as well as pictures of her wearing a Trump 2020 hat. She also shares a number of screenshots of her own tweets in which she calls anti-fascist protesters a "terrorist organization," and states that "Democratic Socialists" and feminists are "ruining" America.
Noah Jennings, Williams' spokesman, told Newsweek that Jeske was allegedly sending "mixed signals” to his client.
“Ms. America CEO Susan Jeske, who would encourage Katie over the phone, and then follow that up with emails and screenshots of things she took issue with,” Jennings said. “Katie separated pages, combed through to remove posts, and overall made every effort to comply with the requests of the pageant.”
Williams, who did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment, told Newsweek: "I was censored for my beliefs. I was excited to compete in this pageant — everything was ready to go for this weekend — and so to have that opportunity taken away from me so quickly feels like a slap in the face. The entire reason I participated in pageants in the first place was to provide young women like my daughter with a strong role model to look up to."
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