Seasonal & Holidays
East Brunswick's Jax Defends July 4 White House Acceptance
Jax said she would perform for any sitting U.S. president, and that the July 4th holiday is not about Trump, but the birth of America.
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — She may be getting criticized for it, but East Brunswick's hometown hero American Idol finalist Jax defended her decision to sing at the White House this Fourth of July.
“I think it’s kinda a really unfortunate thing people can’t separate politics and patriotism,” Jax told TMZ.
Jax — or Jackie Cole "Jax" Miskanic — hails from East Brunswick and she rose to fame as a finalist on the fourteenth season of American Idol. Jax was invited by the Trump administration to sing on the White House lawn this Wednesday, July 4 during a celebration for the U.S. military. At a time when a number of professional athletes rejected offers to appear at the White House, such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and some members of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jax said she would gladly accept the honor.
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Jax, 22, said she would perform for any sitting U.S. president, and that the July 4th holiday is not about Trump, but about the birth of America and honoring the military.
This former waitress (she worked at Gusto Grill on Rt. 18) comes from a military family: Her 20-year-old younger brother is a U.S. Marine and her father was an NYFD firefighter, who responded to the fallen World Trade Center towers in the 9/11 terror attacks, and was injured. Jax said she was honored to be invited and accept, but some fans tore into her when she announced the news on Instagram last week. At least one fan told Jax to "burn in hell" for her acceptance to perform this week.
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Jax defended her decision.
“It’s really (an) important thing for me to take this opportunity and be happy and honor my family,” she said. “I don’t think it’s about me and I don’t think it’s about the president of the United States. I think it’s about honoring our troops and honoring the birthday of our country.”
“I think it’s really important to keep that in mind and not to bring any politics into it," she added.
To date, Jax made it farther than any other New Jersey contestant on American Idol.
I would have jumped at the chance to perform for any president. It’s an honor & once in a lifetime opportunity to perform at the White House for a military event, given that my brother is a Marine & father a 9/11 first responder. Telling me to burn in hell seems counterproductive https://t.co/LdH00yUABO
— JAX (@Jax) June 27, 2018
Excited to announce that I’ll be performing at the White House next week! It’s an honor to be able to celebrate our soldiers on the 4th of July for an awesome military event. It’ll be aired live on the Hallmark Channel!Nothing but good vibes, family & military under the fireworks pic.twitter.com/2y10xqfl1D
— JAX (@Jax) June 27, 2018
Excited to announce that I’ll be performing at the White House next week! It’s really an honor to be able to celebrate our soldiers on the 4th of July for an awesome military event. The concert will be aired live on the Hallmark Channel! Nothing but good vibes, family, and military under the fireworks. Don’t forget to take a break from BBQing and tune in to support our troops!
A post shared by JAX (@jax) on Jun 26, 2018 at 10:09pm PDT
As Patch reported last year, Jax battled thyroid cancer: East Brunswick's Jax of American Idol Reveals She Has Thyroid Cancer
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