LGBT activists are largely not a fan of Donald Trump or his administration, but that’s not stopping Jackie Evancho’s transgender sister from supporting the former “America’s Got Talent” singer at the president-elect’s inauguration.
Juliet Evancho will appear on “CBS Sunday Morning” this weekend alongside her sister, who was booked in December to perform the national anthem at the Jan. 20 event, and said she has no issue with Jackie — an advocate for LGBT rights — celebrating the president-elect many fear could endanger those rights.
“The way I look at it is Jackie is singing for our country, and it’s an honor for her to be singing in front of so many people,” Juliet said in the interview airing Sunday. “So I feel that’s really where I look at it. And that’s where I’m going to leave it right now.”
Jackie, 16, was the first performer to be lined up for the inauguration which failed to attract any A-list talent. Instead, the Trump team has booked the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Rockettes, while Bruce Springsteen tribute band, the B Street Band, is set to play the Garden State Presidential Inaugural Gala on Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C.
Jackie, whose album sales jumped 98 percent the week after announcing she was “so excited” to perform in Washington, D.C., hopes her performance will be powerful enough to unite those watching.
“I hope to just kind of make everyone forget about rivals and politics for a second and just think about America and the pretty song that I’m singing,” she said. “I’m hoping that I can bring people together.”