Ex-Army officer Deshauna Barber crowned Miss USA

The newly crowned Miss USA is a 26-year-old Army officer from the District of Columbia who gave perhaps the strongest answer of the night when asked about women in combat.

“As a woman in the United States Army, I think ... we are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit, I’m powerful, I am dedicated,” Deshauna Barber said.

“Gender does not limit us in the United States.” As the winner of Sunday’s 2016 Miss USA competition held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip, Barber will go on to compete in the Miss Universe contest.

Coming in second was Miss Hawaii, who punted during the question-and-answer segment when asked who she would vote for among the likely presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton or former pageant owner Donald Trump, a Republican.

Chelsea Hardin acknowledged that there was no way to correctly answer the question during the beauty pageant.

The question was framed with Clinton’s likely status of being the first woman nominated by a major political party for the White House. Hardin responded that gender doesn’t matter when deciding the next commander in chief.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2016