The 69th edition of Miss USA i.e., Miss USA 2020 was held on 9th November 2020 at the Exhibition Centre and the Soundstage at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee where Miss Mississippi USA 2020 Asya Branch was crowned the new queen and earned the opportunity to represent USA at Miss Universe 2020. Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst crowned her successor in a made-for-TV moment complete with plenty of tears and a Mouawad-designed crown decked out in diamonds and rubies.
Before Asya was announced as Miss USA 2020, the top five delegates; Miss Mississippi USA 2020 Asya Branch, Miss Idaho USA 2020 Kim Layne, Miss Oklahoma USA 2020 Mariah Jane Davis, Miss Indiana USA 2020 Alexis Lete, and Miss Alabama USA 2020 Kelly Hutchinson, were asked a common question which was their last chance to impress the judges with their intelligent and witty answers. Let’s look at the final question asked to the Top 5 finalists for the title of Miss USA 2020 and the exceptionally well-defined answers by them:
Miss Oklahoma USA 2020 Mariah Jane Davis was called as the first diva to answer her question. She was asked, “We use several apps today and they collect personal data from users to sell it to third parties. Does this influence your decision to use them? Why or Why not?” Mariah answered that it does influence her decision to use them because she feels like she wants her, her family and her loved ones’ privacy respected. She went onto say that as a representative of Oklahoma she wants the people of her community’s privacy respected too and maybe as Miss USA 2020 she’d be able to work towards that. She further added, “Like for Tik Tok when I got to know that they have spyware and people are hacking people’s phone, that made me hesitant to download it but then quarantine happened and I got a little desperate.” She was confident, strong, and very clear to give her message.
Miss Mississippi USA 2020 Asya Danielle Branch was the second one to answer her question. She was asked, “Our country is more polarized than at any other time in recent memory. In your opinion, what must be done to bring our nation back together again?” She answered “that this is an issue of trust. We have lost trust in system that seem to keep our country going from media, businesses, to government and it’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’re going to have to set a better example.”
Miss Indiana USA 2020 Alexis Lete was the third diva to answer to question. She was asked, “According to a study, only a third of American could pass the U.S. Citizenship test. Why is that and what can be done to fix it?” Alexis confidently answered, “I think it’s because as Americans a lot of people are entitled. Just because they are born here, they feel like they have every right to live here. That’s shouldn’t be the case, it’s important that we study up in our country, we know what happens, I mean we had the black lives matter where so many people didn’t understand the systematic racism that happens right here in our country. We need to do better; we need to learn about our country to progress it and move for a better future.”
Miss Idaho USA 2020 Kim Layne was the fourth diva who was called upon to answer the question; she was asked, “Recent protests have advocated for Police Reform. Do you agree? And if so, what steps need to be taken?” Kim answered, “I do believe that we need police reform, it’s obvious from the amount of violence that is happening especially among those who are marginalized and minorities. We need police reform; we need to put money instead of gun control and policing people inappropriately towards education and teaching officers on how to work with communities and how not to fire their firearms inappropriately.”
Miss Alabama USA 2020 Kelly Hutchinson was the last one to answer her question and she was asked, “As more and more people are getting their news through social media, do platforms have a responsibility to fact-check posts, or will that ultimately suppress free speech?” Kelly confidently answered, “I don’t think that will ultimately suppress speech. We need to ensure that Americans are getting the truth. A lot of Americans are learning and their news from social media and that they have to get their information and if they’re spreading false information that can be a huge problem for our country. So, we need to ensure that the things that people are posting online are true and accurate but we also need to ensure that the people who are fact checking those are on both sides of the party so that there is no biasedness.”
All the five delegates sounded confident, strong, and assured with their answers and focused towards winning the title of Miss USA 2020.