Pageant queen Kathy Zhu made national headlines last summer when she was stripped of her Miss Michigan title after racist tweets she wrote resurfaced online. Soon, she was appearing on Fox News and working for Donald Trump‘s reelection campaign. That is until an underage revenge porn scandal proved to be her political undoing. So what happened exactly? Let’s find out…
First, a little backstory: In July 2019, after it was learned the 20-year-old reigning Miss Michigan had posted racist and homophobic musings on her social media accounts in 2017 and 2018, officials from Miss World America decided she was simply too bigoted for their organization. The tweets included praising Hitler, mocking queer people, attacking women who wear hijabs, and saying Black people have lower IQs than people of other races.
Here is the rest of the story…looks like they did the right thing…. pic.twitter.com/gqqlrUbJbe
— Eric Henderson (@Alphasia06) July 22, 2019
In response, Zhu, a heterosexual, put out a statement saying she stood by her tweets then claimed “coming out as a conservative is way harder than coming out as gay in today’s society.” Not that she has any idea what it’s like to come out as gay.
Then she hit the media circuit, appearing everywhere from Fox News to CNN to Dr. Phil, where she boasted her support for Donald Trump and insisted her racism was just a “difference of opinions.” Then, borrowing a page from the president’s playbook, she tried flipping the script by saying people who called her racist were the real racists.
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“The left has a hard time understanding that minorities can be conservatives, too. And I feel like that was a big trigger for them,” Zhu told Fox News, adding that many liberals “have used racial slurs against me.” (She failed, however, to offer an examples of these alleged verbal assaults.)
Towards the end of the interview, Zhu seemed to be angling for a spot at the network, saying, “I’ve always wanted to be a full-time political commentator or a news host, so this really brought conservative voices and attention to what I believe in.”
Not soon after that Fox News appearance, Zhu was praised by Donald Trump on Twitter and scooped up by his reelection team, invited to join the Women for Trump Coalition Advisory Board, alongside homophobic husband beater Stacey Dash, fired Fox News commentators Diamond and Silk, and former Arizona governor/birther Jan Brewer.
Welcome Kathy Zhu to the Official #WomenforTrump Coalition Advisory Board! She is a patriot who has continued to stand…
Posted by Women for Trump on Thursday, July 25, 2019
“I am so excited to be able to join Women for Trump,” Zhu said in a statement. “This is an organization that truly empowers women’s voices and lets us be heard. This is such a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t be more blessed. I can’t wait to help our president get elected a 2nd term!”
So what happened after that?
Well, Zhu’s time on the board ended up lasting approximately one week and included only one speaking engagement at a random luncheon in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan before she threw in the towel.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking & I’ve personally decided going fwd to not be part of the Trump women’s coalition,” she tweeted on July 30, adding that she was about to start her final year at the University of Michigan again and her top priorities were “1) Education 2) Graduate 3) Secure the bag.”
Cut to February 2020.
Zhu was permanently suspended from Twitter and had her Instagram page deactivated after allegedly circulating revenge porn of conservative journalist/fellow Trump supporter Cassandra Fairbanks, with whom she had had a disagreement.
The images showed Fairbanks strapped to a chair with a gag in her mouth and her breasts exposed. Fairbanks claimed the photos were taken years earlier, when she was only 17, by an abusive ex-boyfriend.
Even after learning the pictures were taken when Fairbanks was underage, Zhu said she didn’t regret sharing them.
“I sleep really well at night knowing I did absolutely nothing wrong,” she tweeted, adding that she planned to file a lawsuit against anyone who attempted “slander” her.
Twitter and Instagram, however, felt differently. They deactivated her accounts. And, just like that, Zhu saw her entire social media platform, which included over 150,000 Twitter followers and nearly 80,000 Instagram followers, wiped clean.
Big thanks to the policy communications team at Twitter for taking it seriously when I reached out. I shouldn’t have had to escalate this to contacts at the platform though. The report option for this type of harassment should be taken more seriously. pic.twitter.com/mWz3mEYA9I
— Cassandra Fairbanks ?? (@CassandraRules) February 18, 2020
After losing all of her followers, Zhu abandoned her political ambitions and attempted to rebrand herself, going from a racist right-wing pageant queen who circulated underage revenge porn to… a champion for female empowerment?
Yes, you read that correctly, folks.
In late February, she traded in her red MAGA hat and hate slogans for a pastel pink sweatshirt and blonde dye job with the launch of Kappa Zeta, which bills itself as the world’s “first-ever, online-based sorority.”
The organization’s goal is to “foster genuine friendships from all over the country.”
“Our core values are to empower others, demonstrate strength, and show kindness,” its About Page reads.
In addition to empowering other women, Zhu also appears to be trying her hand a music career, posting videos of herself to YouTube singing pop songs in her bedroom.
As Kathy wraps up her time at the University of Michigan, finishing a degree in political science, more than 36 million Americans and counting have filed for unemployment, the highest number in recorded history.
The young woman who spent all of last summer praising Donald Trump and crowing about making America great again is about the enter the worst workforce the country has seen in decades, overseen by the very man for whom she fell on the sword, and got absolutely nothing in return.
Related: 6 homophobic pageant queens who prove beauty is only skin deep
Jake123
What a Freak!!
Matthewnow
Bad Freak. No biscuit. Bad Freak.
Cam
What happened to her, Milo Yianappolous and Alex Jones shows that Twitter, Facebook, etc… have the power to stop this rot. The second they are deplatformed they become broke and irrelevant.
white-queer-african
WTF, can only be in the US of A! Not so great anymore judging by the latest reports on the shift in the world order. Then again, I live in “shit-hole” Africa as per the dumph in the WH.
GayEGO
She must have caught the Trumpavirus!
Pii
beauty really is only skin deep
startenout
You DO know that the saying is “beauty is MORE than skin deep,” right? As in be beautiful on the inside which this girl is NOT.
Kangol2
What a rotten little apple. Oh well, she’s fallen from the vine, so now dissolve into the MAGAt muck!
CKNJ
Jeez, what a useless fairweather idiotic twat! Your 15 minutes were up a LONG time ago, moron!
PoetDaddy
Happily, no matter what this little vermin decides to do with her life in the future, there will be plenty of us out here to remind the world of just exactly who she is.
WSnyder
Another example of how greedy, self-serving people are drawn to far [and Alt.] right ideology. It’s positively pathetic that so many, who don’t actually ‘fit’ that ideology, think that becoming banner-men for the far-right that they might actually benefit/profit from it. Then they act all surprised after being chewed up by their own idiocy and no one from the far-right comes to their rescue. That’s why they flounder trying to shift gears and vainly attempt to ‘re-brand’ themselves. I for one ENCOURAGE the frauds, con-men and grifters to try and take up the far right cause and then fleece the Right-Wingers for as much as they can. Every dollar wasted by the right on these charlatans… is a dollar wasted.
therealqueer
I dont care for her but she isn’t alt right… she actually was pretty moderate. the alt right was the ones that banned her account for keeping an ex porn star accountable since the porn star was trying to shame current porn stars lol
Cam
@therealqueer
The fact that you would call a Nazi sympathizer who praised Hitler as a “Moderate” shows some frightening things about where your agenda is.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
@WSnyder…..The perfect example of making a fool of their self for the right was the late Linda Tripp. Tripp claimed she reported what he did to Lewinsky because she felt sorry for her and felt he should be held accountable but it was revealed that before she had that revelation she had shopped a book to several publishers who turned her down flat. She goes the the republicans who used her and once she had no use they threw her rear end to the wolves. She successfully sued but every last dime went to her attorneys and the only reason why the attorneys settled for the five hundred thousand dollars that she was awarded was because she was living in poverty. The last thing Clinton did was fire her five minutes before he walked down to the limousine for his final ride wish Bush to the capital so that Bush could be sworn in. Bush nor any republican had anything else to do with her and in my opinion she got just what she deserved.
barryaksarben
HE called her a patriot. In Trump world a patriot is someone who acts like a monster to other people all the while whining about how picked on they are. Her racism is bizzare as to many of trumps nazis her being asian makes her less than. I do hope the world continues to teach he the leasons she so badly needs and does it over and over until it truly sinks in
JustSayin2223
People need to have thicker skins. Ok, so she believes there’s only 2 genders. BFD. Are her comments insensitive? Sure. I’m a big free speech proponent and lots of people say very stupid things.
woodroad34
For one thing, she’s not conservative….she’s alt-right. And what’s fairly interesting, is that she’s asian with a penchant for white supremacy. Not unlike Jews for HItler or blacks for the KKK or gays for Trump. All of that means she’s not right in the head, emotionally or mentally.
therealqueer
I dont care for her but she isn’t alt right… she actually was pretty moderate. the alt right was the ones that banned her account for keeping an ex porn star accountable since the porn star was trying to shame current porn stars lol
BamaLawBlue
What I can’t figure out is why she isn’t facing both state & federal charges for disseminating child pornography, since a 17 year old is a minor, unless the pictures truly didn’t show exposed breasts?
therealqueer
that’s because it wasnt underage porn. she exposed an alt-right bondage porn start. and the racist alt right ruined her career
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
At the half way point in this article I knew what I was looking for was not going to be there by the time I reached the end: the name of the boyfriend of Ms. Zhu (and I’ll bet if one existed he wouldn’t be asian). The only thing I heard were the rantings of a frustrated closeted lesbian whom it would would not shock me to learn has no desire sexually for men or women of her own race. Cassandra Fairbanks’ pics are on Google and she has a beautiful body with pair of knockers to kill for (and trust me, I am not into women but I give credit where it is due). I’ll even go so far to say Ms. Fairbanks no doubt has removed her Pornhub videos because she is clearly posing comfortably in all of those pics that I saw. Ms. Zhu, as for your unasked for opinion of blacks and their intelligence its really a damn shame you never heard of Hakeem Oluseyi, Moogega Cooper or the biggest nerd on the planet Neil Degrasse Tyson. I’ll bet the white boyfriends you’ve had in your lifetime used you sexually for the dirty little tramp you’ve proven to be.
therealqueer
she never questioned blacks intelligence. she actually spoke up about the recent African American that was shot by the two white guys and got lots of backlash for it
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
@therealqueer…..from the article: “and saying Black people have lower IQs than people of other races.”
Ok, how would you INTERPRET what she said? You are sounding like a jealous drunk queen standing at a bar who just might fit the category of what she described with these multiple sign in names you keep using in your lame attempts to throw jabs and fire off cheap shots at me.
succubus
it think she has 50 teeth
Yooper
Purest form of an dumb crunt I’ve seen since Kellyanne.