Donald Trump and his Miss USA pageant may not have chosen their battle wisely when they finally decided to take away Carrie Prejean’s Miss California crown yesterday. Fox News is reporting that Prejean, the devout Christian who spoke out against gay marriage at the Miss USA contest in May, was let go after she insisted on appearing at a Special Olympics event without the formal approval from pageant organizers. No matter what you think about same-sex matrimony, Trump is going to lose any public-relations battle against striving handicapped athletes. As Prejean e-shrieked in one of her last emails as Miss California, “Its for the SPECIAL OLYMPICS!!!”
But the pageant had lost the war with Prejean almost as soon as she spoke her mind about her state’s marital-rights controversy in response to a judge’s question in April. Vilified in the blogs, especially by her questioner, Miss USA judge Perez Hilton, Prejean quickly became a celebrity to conservative Christians. A week after the pageant, she introduced a musical act at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award to a standing ovation.

“Stop speaking for me. I have MY own voice,” Prejean tells Miss USA’s executive director, Keith Lewis, in emails released by the pageant. She likely has her own agent, too, booking her time and, most importantly, managing her message for maximum fame and profit in Christian circles. She may have lost her crown, but Prejean has gained a career.