Miss Utah gets a second chance to answer that pesky question

Miss Utah Marissa Powell, she of the flubbed Miss USA interview, got cut a little slack on Tuesday by the “Today� show: She got a second chance to answer that troublesome question.

She also got a chance to explain what happened when she was in the spotlight Sunday night.

“I was so excited, and I was so nervous, and I got up to this top-five question,� Powell said. “I was the first one. I got up, and the question was a little bit confusing to me, and I just started speaking without really processing.�

And from that, alas, came the viral phrase “create education better.�

Judge Nene Leakes of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,� who’d asked the question about women continuing to make less than men despite being primary earners in 40% of families with children, had sympathy for 20-year-old Powell.

“We all make mistakes that often result in a miscommunication,� Leakes told People, noting that in Miss Utah’s case the gaffe was “very public.�

“Hopefully with all the attention she’s getting ... she can turn this negative into a positive.�

Powell did turn her nonsensical answer into something that made sense while she talked with Matt Lauer on Tuesday.

“This is not OK,� she said when posed the question again. “It needs to be equal pay for equal work. It’s hard enough already to earn a living, and it shouldn’t be harder just because you’re a woman.�

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