Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012 Sheena Monnin stopped by the Today show this morning to talk about giving up her crown (after claiming the pageant was rigged) and being sued by Donald Trump. Of the latter, she told Ann Curry, “I feel disappointed that he has made some of those statements that he’s said about me, and I feel prepared to continue to pursue the truth … I know what I heard, there’s no doubt in my mind that the contestant was serious when she laid out what she said she saw, and I believe her to be true.” The contestant in question, who supposedly saw a list of the top five before the pageant began, has been identified as Miss Florida USA — and she’s now saying that the whole thing was a joke. Monnin doesn’t buy it, replying, “I have many years of psychological training, I know when someone is telling a joke. I know when someone is scared and when someone is serious, and in my opinion, her body language was very serious and she looked a little bit scared.” Finally, Curry asked Monnin about the rumors that she really stepped down because the Miss Universe Organization decided to allow transgendered contestants to compete.
Here’s exactly how she responded:
There are a myriad of reasons why I’m resigning. That is an issue that I discussed with my state director back in April, and his reaction was Sheena, why don’t you formulate an answer, so that if you’re asked in an interview or onstage, you can state your opinion in a public way? and I thought that was fair, so I continued to serve the title. I continued to prepare for Miss USA. But later on, in my initial statement I also mentioned fair play. I did not elaborate on that, when I initially e-mailed my state director because I didn’t see the list. If I would have seen the list, I would have reacted in a very strong, matter-of-fact way. So I didn’t feel since I didn’t see the list that that was a valid reason at that time for resignation.
So, that’s a no? Not a no? Maybe a yes? Anyway, she’s just as articulate in person as she is on Facebook.
