Cara Mund, who was named Miss America 2018 on Sunday, called the US withdrawal from the Paris climate accord a “bad decision” when asked about it by judge Maria Menounos during the pageant’s interview portion.
“I do believe it’s a bad decision,” Mund said. “Once we reject that, we take ourselves out of the negotiation table, and that’s something that we really need to keep in mind. There is evidence that climate change is existing, so whether you believe it or not, we need to be at that table, and I just think it’s a bad decision on behalf of the United States.”
President Donald Trump announced in June the US would leave the accord, saying, “We will start to renegotiate, and we’ll see if there’s a better deal. If we can, great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”
Mund, 23, is the first contestant from North Dakota to win Miss America in the pageant’s 97-year history. She graduated from Brown University and interned for Sen. John Hoeven, a Republican, who tweeted his congratulations on her win.
Mund wasn’t the only contestant to be asked a political question during the pageant’s interview portion.
Miss Missouri, Jennifer Davis, was asked whether she believed the Trump campaign was innocent or guilty of collusion with Russia. “Right now, I would have to say innocent, because not enough information has been revealed,” she said, but if evidence shows campaign members did, they should be “punished accordingly.”
Miss Texas, Margana Wood, was asked about Trump’s response to the Charlottesville, Virginia, attack and said she thought “President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact and making sure all Americans feel safe in this country.”
And Miss New Jersey, Kaitlyn Schoeffel, was asked her thoughts on removing Confederate monuments. “I think the answer is to relocate them into museums,” she said.