Miss New Jersey Answer to Confederate Question Raises Eyebrows

ATLANTIC CITY — It was a great night for New Jersey's own Kaitlyn Schoeffel at the annual Miss America contest as the Egg Harbor Township resident finished second runner-up.

Despite a great showing in a pageant she grew up watching, it was not smooth sailing for Schoeffel. In the second round of questions, Schoeffel fielded a question from figure skater Tara Lipinski about the potential removal of statues dedicated to the Confederacy. While her answer received cheers at the contest, some on social media were not as kind.

"I don't think that the answer is to get rid of these statues," she said. "I think the answer is to relocate them into museums because we are truly defined by our country's history. I don't think it's something that we need to forget, we need to always remember it and honor our history of America because it truly makes us who we are as Americans."

A video of Schoeffel's answer was posted on the contest's Twitter feed with people expressing their displeasure at her answer, and in at least one instance her voice.

In the end the title went to Miss North Dakota Cara Mund, while Miss Missouri Jennifer Davis was named first runner-up.