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        <title><![CDATA[Who is Miss USA 2020 Asya Branch? Meet the winner from Mississippi]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Who is Miss USA 2020 Asya Branch? Meet the winner from Mississippi</media:title>
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						<p>Miss USA 2020 snatched her crown Monday night.</p>
<p>Asya Branch, who represented the state of Mississippi, was awarded the title at Elvis Presley&#8217;s Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.</p>
<p>The 22-year-old stunner received the title after months of delay because of the<strong> coronavirus pandemic</strong>. The competition usually takes place during the spring, according to <strong>Fox News</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Cheslie Chryst</strong>, who won the pageant in 2019, awarded Branch her crown.</p>
<p>Although she&#8217;s young, Branch already has quite the resume: At age 17, she attended Harvard University for summer school. She graduated from Ole Miss and runs her own cosmetics line called Branch Beauty (though the shop was <strong>placed on hold</strong> after Branch won the title).</p>
<p>Soon, Branch will move to New York City to begin her duties.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s everything you need to know about the new Miss USA.</p>
<h2>Who are Asya Branch&#8217;s parents?</h2>
<figure id="attachment_16597219"  class="wp-caption aligncenter"><strong><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/11/10/who-is-miss-usa-2020-asya-branch-meet-the-winner-from-mississippi-0.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Asya gets emotional when her name is called at the 2020 Miss USA pageant.</span><span class="credit">Miss USA</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>Branch comes from a large family and is the sixth of eight siblings, according <strong>to her official pageant bio</strong>. Her father was retired from the military and her mom worked as a teacher&#8217;s assistant.</p>
<p>When she was 10 years old, Branch&#8217;s father was arrested at their home for kidnapping and armed robbery, while she and her siblings watched from the car. &#8220;That day our lives changed forever,&#8221; she told <strong>Empower Missippi</strong>. &#8220;We had a beautiful home and a great life.&#8221;</p>
<p>With her father in prison, the bank foreclosed on their home. &#8220;People looked at us differently when they found out that my father was in prison,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That was a critical stage in my life and it ended up changing me. I felt this overwhelming shame.&#8221; Now, Branch talks about her father&#8217;s story to help other kids who have incarcerated parents.</p>
<h2>What issues does she care about?</h2>
<figure id="attachment_16597221"  class="wp-caption alignright"><strong><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/11/10/who-is-miss-usa-2020-asya-branch-meet-the-winner-from-mississippi-1.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Asya masks up during the coronavirus pandemic.</span><span class="credit">Instagram</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>Criminal justice reform is a major part of Branch&#8217;s platform. She started an initiative called &#8220;Finding Your Way: Empowering Children of Incarcerated Parents,&#8221; <strong>according to Glamour</strong>.</p>
<p>Branch also speaks out about responsible gun ownership.</p>
<p>&#8220;As someone who grew up in a home with guns, I learned at an early age how to load, how to fire and gun safety, and I think that education should be available to everyone,&#8221; she said, during a portion of the competition when she was tasked with speaking on a random subject pulled from a box, according to <strong>The Daily Beast</strong>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think it’s important that we not ban guns, because obviously, people will find a way to get what they want anyways, but I think it’s our Second Amendment right, and we just need more safety surrounding that,&#8221; she said, though she did mention that people who want guns should go through training and tests to get them.</p>
<figure id="attachment_16597261"  class="wp-caption aligncenter"><strong><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/11/10/who-is-miss-usa-2020-asya-branch-meet-the-winner-from-mississippi-2.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span class="credit">Miss USA</span></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Does she have a connection to President Trump?</h2>
<figure id="attachment_16597229"  class="wp-caption alignleft"><strong><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/11/10/who-is-miss-usa-2020-asya-branch-meet-the-winner-from-mississippi-3.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Aysa shows off her patriotic fashion flare.</span><span class="credit">Instagram</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>The beauty queen has met the president many times. In 2018, she was <a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiSchwab/status/1067222704032501761?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part of a roundtable discussion</a> about criminal justice reform with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.</p>
<p>That year, when she became Miss Mississippi USA, she also sang the national anthem at a Trump rally in the state. &#8220;Incredible honor to sing the national anthem tonight in Southaven for the President Trump rally,&#8221; she wrote on Instagram at the time.</p>
<p>However, she did not fully endorse the president&#8217;s administration when answering a question at the competition. &#8220;We&#8217;ve lost trust in the systems that seem to keep our country running, from the media to business to our government,&#8221; Branch said, <strong>according to Fox News</strong>. &#8220;And it&#8217;s all about restoring that trust and coming together and working together to heal and trust in these systems. If we want to continue to be the greatest nation, we&#8217;re going to have to set a better example.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Is Branch the first black woman to be Miss USA?</h2>
<p>No. However, she is the first black woman to be Miss Mississippi USA, according to <strong>People Magazine</strong>.</p>
<p>Last year, for the first time in history Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA <strong>were all black women</strong>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_16597239"  class="wp-caption aligncenter"><strong><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/11/10/who-is-miss-usa-2020-asya-branch-meet-the-winner-from-mississippi-4.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span class="credit">Instagram</span></figcaption></figure>
			
					
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