Jackie Evancho says Trump has still ignored her requests to talk about trans rights
Teenage reality star Jackie Evancho, who flouted a celebrity boycott to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration, has said she still hasn’t heard from Trump about an agreed meeting.
16-year-old America’s Got Talent singer Evancho was one of the only acts to perform at the Trump inauguration last month.
The singer’s decision to perform baffled many as she has a transgender sister, Juliet Evancho – whose rights were expected to be harmed under Trump administration plans.
But Trump has since agreed to meet with the singer, after she appealed to him to talk about trans rights.
Back in March Evancho said she still hadn’t heard from Trump.
Now appearing on the View, she says the President is still ignoring her pleas to talk about transgender issues.
She says: “We would make him aware of what, me, as a transgender person, and [Jackie] have experienced at our school since all the turmoil happened. I’ve had things thrown at me. I got hard candy pelted at the back of my head,” adding: “They started throwing trash at me.”
Sure enough, earlier this year Trump officially rolled back protections for transgender children like Juliet in schools, issuing an order to reverse discrimination protections put in place by Barack Obama.
Jackie Evancho tweeted following the announcement: “I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide. #sisterlove
“@realDonaldTrump u gave me the honor 2 sing at your inauguration. Pls give me & my sis the honor 2 meet with u 2 talk #transgender rghts”.
President Trump has since responded to say that he would “welcome” Jackie and her sister Juliet to a meeting to discuss trans rights.
White House press secretary on Thursday said during the daily press briefing: “Yeah, I think the president would be welcome to meet with her.”
Juliet Evancho is currently embroiled in a legal battle with her school over her right to use the female bathroom – and will now likely face opposition from Trump’s Attorney General if the case reaches federal court.
Jackie previously said she could “100 percent” support her sister’s fight for legal rights and sing for Trump at the same time.
She said: “For me it’s not political It’s just accepting people for who they are… I just kind of thought that this [performance] is for my country, so if people are going to hate on me it’s for the wrong reason.”
The girls’ dad Mike Evancho said: “We’re fighting this discrimination at the high school… it doesn’t matter who’s going into office, we would still fight that fight.”
