Miss USA 2020 Clarifies Why She Worked With Donald Trump In The Past: If You Can’t Get A Seat At The Table, You Can’t Make A Difference

Miss USA 2020 Clarifies Why She Worked With Donald Trump In The Past: If You Can’t Get A Seat At The Table, You Can’t Make A Difference

Asya Branch,22, has just been crowned Miss USA 2020. In one of her first interviews after winning the title she is addressing why she’s worked with Donald Trump in the past.

In 2018, Asya Branch was apart of a justice reform roundtable that took place at the White House and President Donald Trump was in attendance.  She also sang the national anthem at a rally for Trump in Southaven, Mississippi that year.

Asya Branch says that she received lots of criticism, and is now answering to it. She said:

“Regardless of political beliefs, I find it an honor to be able to sing the national anthem anywhere and it just so happened to be at a Trump rally.”  

Branch also adds that she was under contractual obligation as an employee of the Miss Mississippi Corp. making it impossible to have a say so.

“And I know I caught a lot of backlash for that. But no one knows if that has anything to do with my political beliefs or not. I did have a duty as an employee of the Miss Mississippi Corp. as well as a representative of the state of Mississippi.”

Asya says that through the previous roundtable, she was a part of helping to lobby for the First Step Act, a bipartisan reform bill that Donald Trump signed to help inmates re-enter into society.  She also stressed how important it is to have a seat at the table.

“If you can’t get a seat at the table, you can’t make a difference.  I found that to be an inspiring and moving moment for me because it shows that I can accomplish things and I can accomplish my goals and really make a difference in the world.”

She added:

“So yes, I caught backlash for it, but I feel like it was a meeting that gave me an opportunity to speak up on a cause that was very important to me.”