It’s hard being a cisgender heterosexual conservative in Trump’s America. Just ask Kathy Zhu.
The 20-year-old pageant queen was stripped of her Miss Michigan title after a string of racist tweets she wrote in 2017 and 2018 resurfaced. Now, she says “coming out as conservative is harder than coming out as gay.”
After it was learned that Zhu had posted offensive musings on her social media accounts, including attacking women who wear hijabs and saying Black people have lower IQs, officials from Miss World America decided she was too racist for their organization.
On Friday, pageant officials informed Zhu she would no longer be representing Michigan in Las Vegas later this year.
Zhu has since deleted the tweets, but she insists “I stand by each and every one of my tweets on my account” and claims her racism is just a “difference of opinions.” Not only that, but she says her opinions are based in “facts.”
“It is honestly sad that the left refers to statistics and facts as racist and insensitive,” she says.
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there.
In a statement to the media, Zhu, who identifies as heterosexual, goes on to suggest that “coming out as a conservative is way harder than coming out as gay in today’s society.”
“I am very glad that I now have the opportunity to speak out about the unjust treatment of conservatives,” the statement continues. “People support that I’ve decided to stand my ground instead of compromise on my beliefs and values.”
Over the weekend, Zhu made the media rounds, where she defended her racism on national television.
After appearing on CNN, she posts a screenshot to Instagram along with the caption: “I would have never thought I’d be on CNN one day! I’m sorry I betrayed you, @realdonaldtrump.”
In 2016, Zhu appeared in a YouTube video titled “Why this 18-year-old is voting for Donald Trump” in which she said have a president who is “not politically correct” is a “good way to show the real side of what is happening in America.”
“Don’t get it twisted,” one Twitter user wrote. “Kathy Zhu was stripped of her title for disgusting tweets. Tweets that were racist. Not because she is a conservative.”
