She supports the Second Amendment, Visited the White House, and sand the National Anthem at a Trump rally.
Clearly unqualified for Miss USA and should have her crown removed! </sarcasm>
Miss USA winner Asya Branch received backlash this week when she denounced the banning of firearms prior to receiving her crown. The backlash further escalated when it was revealed that she visited the Trump White House in 2018 to collaborate on the First Step Act and also sang the National Anthem at a Trump rally in Mississippi.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Branch said that criminal justice reform has always been an important issue for her due to the pain her family suffered while her father was incarcerated for 10 years.
“So often what people miss when they see someone on the news who’s been arrested [is] the family that they leave behind,” Branch said. “That’s where my impetus began, on the children and families at home … And then it’s stretched into working with inmates and helping them see their purpose and speaking with them, hearing their stories and making them feel heard and feel like the humans that they are.”“If you can’t get a seat at the table, you can’t make a difference,” Branch said of her meeting at the White House. “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. 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.”