Miss USA Nia Sanchez came in second place during the 2014 Miss Universe competition. The 24-year-old Las Vegas, Nev. resident was a front-runner to win the pageant but some believe her answer to a question regarding terrorism may have cost her the crown.
During the interview portion, boxer Manny Pacquaio asked Sanchez what message she would send to terrorists around the world. Sanchez chose a textbook response, which quickly led people to mock her.
"I know as Miss USA I can always spread a message of hope and love and peace, and I would do my very best to spread that message to them and everyone else in the world," Sanchez answered.
"What message would you give to terrorists?" Sigh. #missuniverse
A video posted by Annie Colbert (@anniecolbert) on Jan 25, 2015 at 7:33pm PST
The answer drummed up memes from the 2000 movie "Miss Congeniality" where all the pageant contestants asked for world peace.
"I feel like I'm watching the trailer for Miss Congeniality 3," one Twitter user wrote. "Miss USA said she would try to spread love and hope to terrorists. Yes, if only we would've tried offering love and peace to ISIS."
"#MissUniverse #MissUSA's answer was a little too ambitious! 'Hope and love and peace,' beautiful words but can they tackle terrorism? No!" another user wrote.
Ultimately, Sanchez didn't win the competition, as she was the runner-up behind the 2014 winner Paulina Vega, from Colombia. The 22-year-old business administration student was handed the crown from the 2013 winner, Gabriella Isler from Venezuela.
"It's amazing," Vega said. "It's very new, very modern. It's very different. I will wear it with pride and excitement."
Prior to winning the competition, Vega told reporters that she was new to the pageant world but wouldn't be competing anymore because she wants to finish school.
"It will be a dream come true to represent the woman of today. A woman that not only cares about being beautiful and being glamourous, but also cares about being a professional, intelligent, hard-working person," Vega said earlier in the week.
Rounding out the top five 2014 Miss Universe contestants were Sanchez, Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha, Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell and Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen.
