Donald Trump’s supporters claim the “Trump effect” is responsible for this year’s blonde hair, blue-eyed Miss Universe being crowned.
Victoria Kjaer Theilvig of Denmark won the 73rd annual pageant on Saturday, beating more than 120 contestants for the title.
“Wokeness is officially over. This is the new Miss Universe,” one X user wrote alongside a photo of Theilvig sporting her Miss Denmark sash and her nation’s flag.
Others hailed the Dane’s accomplishment as a victory for the MAGA movement and an indication of how a Trump administration could shift societal values, thanking the president-elect, who once owned the Miss Universe Organization, for “bringing sanity back” to the pageant world.
“‘Trump is actually making America great again,” one post about the pageant read.
“It’s the Trump Effect in action. Had Kamala won, the prize would’ve gone to a 40-year-old transgender,” another wrote on X.
Some of president-elect’s fans even claimed they were “shocked” that a “real woman” was crowned.
Every Miss Universe winner has been a biological female. However, the pageant attempted to diversify its contestants after being bought by a Thai media mogul and avid supporter of trans rights.
This year’s contest was more demographically traditional. In 2023, the competition featured married, plus-sized, and two transgender contestants, one of whom, Portugal’s Marina Machete, placed in the top 20.
Prior to 2023, the Miss Universe Organization, like many pageants, faced backlash for what some said was an outdated and exclusionary standard of beauty.
Debate surrounding the trans women competing in pageants began more than a decade ago, with organizers allowing trans contestants to compete in 2012. Despite being allowed to participate, very few trans women have made it to the final competitions, Machete being the most recent.
