[Smerconish:] You're looking at a life shot of the G7 Summit. We'll go there momentarily. Charlevoix. I've been getting my pronunciation right. Papadopoulous. Papadopoulous. Charlevoix. Meanwhile, this week the same day that the Miss America Organization announced it was ending swim suit and evening gown competitions, a former Miss America won the Democratic primary for Alabama's Third Congressional District. Mallory Hagan was Miss America in 2013 and after working as a local news anchor in Columbus, Georgia, this week she won the primary in Alabama to represent the Third Congressional District in the Democratic Party. She will face Representative Mike Rogers in the fall. Hagan was one of the former contestants was fat shamed in emails by the Organizations' Chief Executive Sam Haskell who ended up having to step down. Mallory Hagan joins me now. She's the author of a recent vox.com piece titled, "I'm a Former Miss America Winner. Good Riddance to the Swimsuit Competition." Mallory, how come? Give me the take that you have on this.
[Mallory Hagan, 2013 Miss America And Politician:] Hey, good morning. You know, here is the thing, throughout my year as Miss America I did so many wonderful things that most of the general public knows nothing about and partially that's due to poor branding and poor marketing by the former board of directors and the former executives at Miss America but a part of that is also because this telecast reflects nothing of what we do throughout the year. And so what we're really trying to do is just marry what Miss America does with what the general public sees in the pageant and I think it's going to really help people understand that Miss America is a job. It's a very well paid job. It's a very demanding job and it's one where you're expected to be an advocate and speaker throughout the year and not a bikini model.
[Smerconish:] Okay but will anybody watch?
[Hagan:] I certainly hope so. You know, we have enough models and aspirational body types out there in the entertainment industry. I want to see young women have a spokesperson to look up to and someone to aspire to be and perhaps Ava DuVernay or Emma Emma Roberts or Oprah or anyone one of these inspirational women across the country who doesn't necessarily use their body in order to create change and do good and I think that we need more young women in public eye who our young people can look up to and aspire to be and I hope that people will tune into Miss America to see that we have a lot of young women across this country who are just that and now we need to showcase them the way that they should be showcased.
[Smerconish:] But can't we do both? Listen, I do this as a compliment not to be demeaning.
[Hagan:] Sure.
[Smerconish:] We have the image of you when you were Miss America. You're stunning in that bikini. What I'm thinking about when I remember by the way, don't embarrass her but we can put it on the screen. It's OK, she looks great, she won. Yes, there it is. You know Mallory, it's not just guys who like to look at beautiful women. Women like to look at beautiful women. My mother is 1 of 11; 8 sisters and 3 brothers. When I was growing up, I remember when, before the cell phone era, they would all be working their push button phones and calling one another and saying, "My God, look at Miss Mississippi and look at Miss Texas and Pennsylvania." They loved getting caught up in all of it.
[Hagan:] Sure. We can absolutely do both and there are women everyday out in the community doing wonderful things that are both beautiful and service driven and you know, no one is saying that moving forward in the Miss America Pageant, the young women who participate shouldn't take care of their bodies, they shouldn't be healthy and shouldn't be beautiful. Listen, the Miss America Organization is not going to change their public's perception of what is beautiful or what is desirable and in every judge's minds and in the public eye, they're going to be drawn to the young woman that they are attracted to and that is totally acceptable and a part of human nature. But what we're trying to do is let people know that Miss America is a spokeswoman for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. She is an advocate for her platform; mine had to do with child sexual abuse prevention, and she's a spokesperson for many brands across the board throughout her year and so we just want people to see that on stage. It's not to say you can't be beautiful and can't do both because you certainly can and we celebrate that. We just want to show our audience what it is that Miss America does and that's she's a spokesperson.
[Smerconish:] Mallory, good luck in your Congressional bid.
[Hagan:] Thank you so much, appreciate it.
[Smerconish:] Let's see what you're saying on my Smerconish twitter and Facebook pages. Smerconish, I'm not understanding why everyone thinks the beauty is going away because they're getting rid of bathing suits, they are not one in the same. Well, that's a great point, Krissy, isn't it? I mean you're still going to see beautiful women, I imagine, albeit not as of them. How is that? One more if we have time for it. Smerconish, archaic. Ditch the entire stupid degrading thing. Well, I wonder if it's not now on a downward spiral if they get rid of this aspect of it. Time will tell. We'll see what the ratings hold. Right? We're going to go live to the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada I think I did it where the President has been tardy to this morning's breakfast on gender equality and has generally been at loggerheads with the other leaders.