In July of 2013, a federal judge in Manhattan ordered then-Miss Pennsylvania, Sheena Monnin, to pay a staggering $5 million after she stated that the Miss USA contest was “rigged.”
“The court does not take lightly that Monnin is compelled to pay what is a devastating monetary award,” wrote Judge J. Paul Oetken at the time. “Moreover, Monnin undeniable is suffering from her poor choice of counsel … (But) sympathy, or apparent inequity, may play no role in a court’s legal analysis, and here, the law is clear.”
According to the New York Daily News, “The brunette beauty queen accused Trump’s Miss USA Pageant of working from a script where the final 16 contestants and top five finishers were all predetermined.”
“This is f-ing rigged, Randy,” Monnin told pageant official Randy Sanders.
Monnin went public with her allegations which, according to Trump’s counsel, caused Miss Universe L.P. to lose money associated with site fees.
The pageant contestant had no evidence that the contest was rigged against her, but made her allegations anyway.
As Red State notes, Trump is guilty of the same exact behavior this election cycle. “Donald Trump is making claims against the United States electoral system. He has no proof whatsoever to substantiate his claim,” explains Red State. “This is not just another one of Trump’s idiotic lies he routinely tells. This is the Republican nominee for President of the United States attacking the integrity of the US electoral system. And he’s doing it without consequence.”
The hypocrisy here is astounding.
The GOP nominee is recklessly throwing around the term “rigged” to describe a system that sits at the cornerstone of our democracy. And yet, he was more than happy to launch a multi-million dollar lawsuit against an irrelevant pageant contestant who threw around the same word to describe his beauty contest.