A few days after being crowned Miss Michigan, Kathy Zhu was stripped of her title for what she is calling discrimination against her conservative political views.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Zhu, a 20-year-old political science student at the University of Michigan, was dismissed as a Miss World America pageant participant on July 18 after the organisation deemed her social media posts as "offensive, insensitive and inappropriate".

Violating the rules

Zhu posted screenshots of her correspondence with the pageant organisers on her Twitter account which has over 129,000 followers.

https://twitter.com/PoliticalKathy/status/1152044590645616640

https://twitter.com/PoliticalKathy/status/1152044900407549952

This included an email sent to her by the pageant whereby she was informed of her dismissal.

In the email, pageant organisers said that Zhu's social media posts had caused her to violate the rules and conditions of the pageant.

Specifically, they cited the requirement for a contestant to "(be) of good character and whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute Miss World America or any person associated with the organisation."

Islamophobic and racist?

Zhu, an outspoken supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, had previously tweeted about an incident where she refused to try on a hijab.

https://twitter.com/PoliticalKathy/status/1152032028151312384

The incident which occurred in 2018, involved Zhu going up to a Muslim Student Association booth on her university campus celebrating World Hijab Day and declining to wear a hijab when prompted.

She then tweeted:

"There is a 'try a hijab on' booth at my college campus.

So you're telling me that it's now just a fashion accessory and not a religious thing? Or are you just trying to get women used to being oppressed under Islam?"

In another tweet, she had called for African-Americans to "fix problems" faced by their community saying:

"Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community first before blaming others."

While both tweets have since been deleted, Zhu continues to defend her comments.

She also told the Detroit Free Press that Miss World America should be more specific and clearly define what "insensitive" means, as she did not believe anything she posted was insensitive.

Deepening divide

The reaction to Zhu's dismissal illustrates the deepening divide in the U.S. between those on the right and left of the political spectrum.

She has been held up as a martyr by right-wing conservatives who argue that they are increasingly being attacked by left-wing voters and media.

It comes after Democrats and Republicans were caught in a back and forth over comments by President Trump telling "'progressive' democrat congresswomen" to go back to the "crime-infested places from which they came".

According to the South China Morning Post, while three of the four women Trump was referring to were born in the U.S., none of them are white.

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

....and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

....it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

Democrats have been quick to condemn Trump's comments as racist, while the President's supporters have defended the comments.

Top image from Kathy Zhu Instagram page