As Think Progress noted earlier this week, various conservative media figures have claimed that Miss Michigan Rima Fakih, a Lebanese American and the first Muslim to ever win the Miss USA crown, won the title because Miss Oklahoma Elizabeth Woolard came out in favor of the controversial Arizona immigration law during the pageant:

• Right wing pundit and Fox contributor Michelle Malkin ranted that “Fakih's cheerleaders are too busy tooting the identity politics horn to care what comes out of her mouth” and that “the Miss USA pageant didn't want to risk the wrath of the open-borders mob.” [5/16/10]

• Fox News's Gretchen Carlson complained that Woolard's “informed opinion” may have cost her the crown, and said that Fakih may have won because we live in a “PC society.” [5/17/10]

Today, Woolard pushed back, rejecting the right-wing attack saying, “I don't believe that answer cost me the crown.”

Related:

• Kilmeade wonders whether they asked Miss OK about immigration because “they wanted to make sure” she “didn't win”