On May 15. Julie Chen, co-anchor of CBS' “The Early Show” glossed over a declaration from former Miss
After her resignation from her Miss California position, Moakler went on the show in an exclusive interview to discuss her departure. Donald Trump's announcement in a press conference on May 13 that Carrie Prejean would keep her title [1] as Miss
“I think it's wrong to start screaming that you're being persecuted, then you go and align yourself with organizations like NOM, to me that are particularly, I consider them hate groups,” said Moakler.
After briefly clarifying what “NOM” refers to (Moakler said, “The National Organization for Marriage.”), Chen immediately moved on to a completely different question about Trump's response to her resignation.
If Chen found anything controversial in this characterization of an organization dedicated to the defense of traditional marriage as a hate group, she hid it well.
Chen also gave Moakler an opening to imply that Prejean was dishonest when she asked, “By the way, we were led to believe that she kind of wasn't aware that her breasts were exposed. Do you think that she is misleading us again by telling that story?”
The former playboy bunny responded, “Well a little bit. She's barely wearing a top [chuckles].”
Chen's performance is part of a mainstream media pattern in which they discredit and demonize traditional marriage advocates [2].
At least she finally made clear that one of the reasons Prejean almost lost her crown was because of her view on traditional marriage. In the opening line Chen said, “Donald Trump decided that Carrie Prejean would keep her title despite outspoken views on gay marriage and a series of semi-naked photos.”
Moakler won the Miss New York title in 1995. In an ironic twist, she also became the first runner up in the Miss USA competition just as Prejean did this year. In 2001 she signed on as a playboy bunny and later became the Co-Executive Director of the Miss California Organization until her recent departure.