Miss USA Kara McCullough calls health care a privilege, sparks controversy

The newly-crowned Miss USA is already under fire.

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Kara McCullough, of the District of Columbia, was asked during Sunday night's pageant whether she thinks that affordable health care for all U.S. citizens is a right or a privilege. She said it is a privilege.

"As a government employee, I'm granted health care and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you need to have jobs," the 25-year-old shared.

Later in the competition, she also was asked what she considers feminism to be and whether she considers herself a feminist. McCullough said she likes to "transpose" the word feminism to "equalism."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission scientist's answers did not sit well with some viewers, who took to social media to slam her remarks.

Libertarian columnist Kristin Tate took McCullough's side, telling "Fox & Friends" on Monday morning that the pageant champ represented diversity of thought.

"Kudos to these Miss USA judges who crowned her and celebrated true diversity," Tate said, addding that "a lot of people making these nasty attacks say that they are feminists, yet they're tearing down this strong woman because, again, she doesn't fit their narrative."

McCullough, who represented the District of Columbia in the decades-old pageant, was born in Naples, Italy, and raised in Virginia Beach, Va. She said she wants to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

This was the second year in a row that the representative of the nation's capital won the Miss USA title. Last year, District of Columbia resident Deshauna Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA.