Newly crowned Miss USA backtracks controversial comments

The newly crowned Miss USA, Kára McCullough, is singing a new tune after previously denouncing the term feminist during her question and answer portion.

TheGrio Staff

May 17, 2017

Kára McCullough, the new Miss USA, was only just crowned on Sunday, but she has already become an alt-right darling and sparked controversy with her comments about health care and feminism.

Regarding health care, McCullough made friends on the far right when she said that it was a privilege and not a right, saying, “As a government employee, I am granted health care and I see firsthand that to have health care, you need to have jobs.”

But McCullough recently appeared on Good Morning America singing a different tune, saying, “I am privileged to have health care and I do believe that it should be a right, and I hope and pray moving forward that health care is a right for all worldwide.”

However, she doesn’t seem to be changing her position on not calling herself a feminist, as on Sunday, she insisted she was an equalist, not a feminist: “I try not to consider myself this die-hard, like, I don’t really care about men.”

“I’m just about being equal,” McCullough insisted to the Daily Beast during a victory tour interview, adding, “I’m all about women’s rights.”

“I do want to see women flourish in just every aspect of life, whether it is in the medical sciences, or whether it’s in the government agencies and in STEM. I’m just saying in total we have to look at ourselves as, ‘we are equal,’” McCullogh, who is a scientist at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said before adding, “Women have made so many strides, and I’m looking forward to this next generation of women coming up.”

In a different interview with Cosmopolitan, though, she did seem to backtrack, just slightly, on her insistence that she did not want to be called a feminist: “And I’m all about women’s rights. Yes, I would have to say I am a feminist. But, when I look at the term “equalism,” [I used it] because I’ve seen firsthand in the workplace that we need those equal opportunities when it comes to leadership. And you know, the word [feminism] can carry different connotations [depending on what] generation you come from, or what background, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m not an active [supporter of] women’s rights. If anyone wants to challenge me on that, please call me. “