Miss USA 2017 Kara McCullough faced backlash before she even won the crown during Sunday night's event in Las Vegas after she gave what many saw as "conservative" answers to two questions.
Asked whether she sees affordable healthcare for all Americans as a right or a privilege, McCullough answered, "I'm definitely going to say it's a privilege."
The 25-year-old chemist works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and added, "As a government employee I'm granted healthcare, and I see firsthand that for one to have healthcare, you need to have jobs."
Asked in another round whether she sees herself as a feminist, she said preferred to "transpose" the word feminism to "equalism."
"I don't want to call myself a feminist," McCullough said. "Women, we are just as equal as men, especially in the workplace."
McCullough, who is black, faced criticism on social media, with some Twitter users saying she gave conservative answers only to appease those running the pageant, who they described as conservative.
But not everyone was a hater:
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