It’s a fact: You can’t please everybody, especially when it comes to the Q&A portion of beauty pageants.
Philippine beauty queen Nicole Cordoves surprised netizens around the world during the top five question and answer portion of the 2016 Miss Grand International pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada in the US on Tue, Oct 25 (Oct 26, Philippine time),
READ: PH bet Nicole Cordoves is first runner-up in Miss Grand International 2016
The finalists were asked who between US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton they will choose to help them stop war and violence.
The 24-year-old from Manila chose US Republican nominee Trump.
She reasoned, “I would chose Donald Trump to stop the war and violence because if we choose him to switch to our side, there won’t be war and violence anymore.”
She was booed by the audience.
Nicole continued, “So, I will also make sure that he will read my speeches to stop the war and violence. Because imagine, someone who would bring so much madness and so much emotion from these people, what if we use his voice to do do for the world? What if we use that to our advantage?”
The latter part of her answer garnered cheers from the crowd.
Pageant winner Ariska Putri Pertiwi of Indonesia chose Clinton her answer, as did the bets of Thailand and Puerto Rico.
Miss USA also chose Trump, which was met with boos.
Nicole ended up as first runner-up, which got netizens thinking — what if she chose Clinton instead?
But pageants fans also believed Nicole gave a winning answer.
Your organization want to stop the war then your Q and A causes war! POOR ORGANIZATION. Ph should won #missgrandinternational
— MIA X ELY (@KarlerX) October 26, 2016
mga bastos pa yung audience. gusto niya si donald trump pake niyo ba? kayo ba sasagot? #missgrandinternational
— Ryan (@ryanmxnxlx) October 26, 2016
(The audience was rude. She answered Donald Trump, what’s wrong with that? Were you the one answering?)
Brainless judges!! For me, Miss Ph should win the pageant. She has the bes answer of all. Anyway Congrats Miss Ph #missgrandinternational
— MIA X ELY (@KarlerX) October 26, 2016
#missgrandinternational
Kudos to #MissUSA & #MissPhilippines for basically saying the Q was irrelevant & divisive by calling for unity.— NaNa Lopez (@dpursuitofnana) October 26, 2016
Needless to say, that question was not an easy one!
It may be argued that Nicole gave a good answer to a beauty pageant question. But, perhaps, she also forgot that Trump, former owner of the Miss Universe Organization, may not have the best reputation in the beauty pageant circles right now.
Trump has been under fire lately after it was revealed he mocked Miss Universe 1996 winner Alicia Machado and called her “Miss Piggy” for gaining weight.
In any case, her speech as part of the pageant’s top 10 section fared much better. Elaborating on the pageant’s “Stop the War and Violence” theme, Nicole said children should not “risk their lives for us” amid war and violence.
“I stand here tonight refusing to tell the same story to our next generation,” she said. “Children should fight for their dreams, not for their lives.”
LOOK: PH bet Nicole Cordoves sizzles at Miss Grand International 2016 prelim show
Nicole is a speech writer for the Department of Finance.
The Philippines is set to compete in two other beauty pageants this week: the Miss International pageant in Japan on Thu, Oct 27 and the Miss Earth pageant in Pasay City on Sat, Oct 29.
Earlier this month, Philippines’ Jennifer Hammond landed in the top 15 of the Miss Intercontinental pageant.
