Miss Earth-Philippines likens Duterte to Hitler, gets bashed on social media

Miss Philippines Earth 2016 Imelda Bautista Schweighart received some social media backlash after comparing President Rodrigo Duterte to Adolf Hitler in a live video in Facebook.

Schweighart and Miss Earth Austria 2016 Kimberly Budinsky had been posing for a pageant video when Schweighart asked if Hitler was from Austria.

"That's a bad question because we normally don't really talk about Hitler. But yes, he is," Budinsky answered.

"Oh my God, our President is doing Hitler stuff here in the Philippines," Schweighart then replied.

The video has since been taken down, but Facebook page Pageant Central was able to post a copy of the video.

It quickly spread online, garnering almost 300,000 views as of Tuesday evening.

Many netizens found Schweighar's remarks embarrassing and the whole conversation awkward.

Some were furious for her careless remarks.

Miss Austria's face is like "oh no you didn't!!!"

She should've punched Miss Philippines in the throat!????https://t.co/oDe1svWyro

— Leslie J. Tutaan (@lesliejacinto) October 11, 2016

The education system in the #Philippines is an abject failure.

The Holocaust and Nazi crimes aren't jokes.https://t.co/kZqUtKCh4E

— ?????????? (@alders_ledge) October 11, 2016

Imelda Bautista Schweighart. That was shocking. No explanation could help you get out of the mess you yourself created. #missedhistoryclass

— Alan Dy Blanc ? (@tapAlan) October 10, 2016

Duterte's supporters have also been leaving angry comments on Schweighart's posts.

In an explanation posted in her Facebook page, Schweighart said that she was actually a supporter of Duterte, and that her Hitler remarks were simply "a soft joke."

"Guys, I'm a Duterte follower. The people who talk to me everyday knows how delightful I am to see and experience the change he has made happen so far. I am half-German that is the reason why I talked to a fellow delegate about 'Hitler' so casually, who is Austrian. Because all my life I am always teased by fellow Filipinos as 'Hitler' because they are not well informed that Hitler was not German. In fact Hitler was Austrian," Schweighart said.

"So , when I saw my fellow delegate i made a soft joke about it out of my excitement. I am an extremist so forgive me my fellow Filipinos and Duterte supporters if you didn't understand how I am," she added.

During a speech last September, Duterte referenced Hitler, who led the Nazis in murdering more than 6 million Jews.

The President had said that Hitler killed millions of Jews, and that he was willing to slaughter the same number of criminals in the Philippines.

After drawing outrage, Duterte issued an apology to the Jewish community. He said that he had no intention of derogating the memory of the Jews murdered during the Holocaust. —NB, GMA News