Miss D.C., Kara McCullough, surrounded by fellow contestants after she was crowned Miss USA on May 14. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Miss D.C., Kara McCullough, surrounded by fellow contestants after she was crowned Miss USA on May 14. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Miss D.C. took home the Miss USA crown on Sunday after giving a couple of controversial answers during the pageant’s Q&A session on the Mandalay Bay Convention Center stage in Las Vegas.

Kára McCullough is the second consecutive winner representing D.C., following Deshauna Barber’s win in 2016.

A 25-year-old chemist at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, McCullough was born in Naples, Italy—making her the seventh woman born outside of the U.S. to hold the Miss USA title. She earned a degree in radiochemistry at South Carolina State University and also founded a program that creates science, technology, engineering and math activities for children.

Sounds good. But what would a beauty pageant be without some controversy? Enter questions about healthcare and feminism.

When asked if healthcare is a right or privilege, McCullough picked the latter, saying that as a government employee, she’s granted health care “and I see first-hand that for one to have health care, you have to have jobs.”

She doubled down with an answer to a question about feminism, saying she prefers the term “equalism.” “I don’t want to call myself a feminist,” she said. “Women, we are just as equal as men, especially in the workplace.”

McCullough will go on to compete in the Miss Universe competition.

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