Donald Trump weighs in on Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe mistake, suggests crowning co-winners

“It was a terrible error, but things happen — it’s live television.”

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Donald Trump weighs in on Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe mistake, suggests crowning co-winners

Like millions of other stunned television viewers, Donald Trump is weighing on the epically awkward ending to Sunday's Miss Universe competition, saying the producers should have crowned two winners after host Steve Harvey misread his cue card and announced Miss Colombia as the winner of the 2015 pageant, correcting himself moments later and crowning the actual winner, Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

"Hey folks, I have to apologize," Harvey informed viewers as Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez Arevalo, was waving and posing for photos with the crown. "The first runner-up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is ... Philippines."

Trump, the former owner of the Miss Universe pageant, initially tweeted that the snafu "would never have happened" on his watch.


But in an interview on the "Today" show Monday, Trump was a bit more understanding.

"Steve Harvey is a great guy. It was a terrible error," he said. "But things happen — it's live television."

The Republican frontrunner then suggested both Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines ought to be awarded the 2015 Miss Universe crown.

"I think I'd make them a co-winner," Trump said. "It would be very cool."

During the broadcast, Trump encouraged his Twitter followers to tune in, praising the pageant's new owners, IMG.


In a statement, the pageant apologized to the contestants and viewers for what it described as a "human error" that occurred during "the excitement of live TV."

 

Actress Niecy Nash, one of the pageant's judges, posted a video of the chaos that ensued.


Harvey, for his part, was apologetic, tweeting an apology for his "terribly honest human mistake" to both contestants — though at first he misspelled both the Philippines and Colombia.

(@IAmSteveHarvey/Twitter)
(@IAmSteveHarvey/Twitter)

Harvey subsequently deleted the tweet, posting a correctly spelled mea culpa.


While many viewers — particularly those rooting for Miss Colombia — were outraged, others were sympathetic.


Several pointed to the cue card Harvey misread as a mistake just waiting to happen.


Of course, there's a bright side to such an epic mixup.