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Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13

Arab-Americans delight in Miss USA victory

By JOCELYN NOVECK

AP National Writer

NEW YORK – Donald Trump’s Miss USA pageant sure knows how to make headlines.

Arab-Americans rejoiced Monday over the crowning of raven-haired beauty Rima Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Michigan, calling it a victory for diversity in the United States, especially at a time when Arabs suffer from negative stereotypes in this country – and anti-immigrant sentiment is in the news.

Meanwhile, some harsh critics wondered if Trump’s Miss USA organization was trying to send a message, sniping that the victory amounted to “affirmative action,” or implying the first runner-up, Miss Oklahoma USA, suffered unfairly because of an answer she gave supporting Arizona’s new immigration law.