When Emily Austin came out as a supporter of President Donald Trump, she faced backlash but also received a lot of messages saying they agreed with her stance, including from NBA players.
Sports reporter and conservative influencer Emily Austin spoke with Fox News Digital about her journey and why she felt compelled to speak out about her values and be a voice for what she described as the “under-represented.”
The host of “The Emily Austin Show” said that political commentary came “by accident.”
Austin has millions of followers across all social media platforms, with her Instagram account @emily.austin being her largest with over 2.6 million followers.
Before her career, Austin was a pre-med student at Hofstra University. In 2020, she switched her major to journalism and found herself frustrated during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Austin often heard “my body, my choice” at school, a slogan she said she was on board with, but realized this wasn’t the case when it came to coronavirus vaccine mandates.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is really hypocritical,'” Austin told Fox News Digital. “That was like one example of a lot of things in college that really opened up my eyes to the hypocrisy of politics, at least on the left side.”
Austin found herself “repulsed” from liberal ideology during her time at Hofstra, including identity politics and victimization, which she believes Generation Z has “fallen into.”
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However, Austin said when she began to pursue journalism, she had to initially choose between sports and politics and ended up picking sports.
“I chose sports and told myself like, ‘Eww, who wants to do politics? You know, that’s for, like, old boring people,'” she said.
During the 2020 election, Austin dove into politics more and found herself more aligned with President Trump after previously having little interest.
Austin shared that during her second year of college, seeing Joe Biden polling higher than Trump left her concerned. She even posted a “very dramatic” Instagram story threatening to leave the country if Biden was elected.
This led to her receiving a message from a Women for Trump organizer, prompting her to look more into what Trump stood for.
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Then, Austin publicly came out as a Trump supporter.
“I just remember I came out and was like, ‘Hey guys, vote for Trump’ and oh my goodness, it was just a wave of backlash and hate,” she said.
Even her agent advised Austin to delete her post and stick to sports following her public support for Trump. She described the aftermath as a “nightmare.”
However, Austin said she was more motivated to keep sharing her opinions, even in the midst of backlash.
“I was receiving messages from NBA players, like, ‘Hey I’m voting for Trump too’ or, like, ‘Wow you’re brave for saying that, like I could never,'” she said.
In addition, her classmates also sent her messages saying they were voting for Trump, too.
Austin came to the realization that Trump supporters were underrepresented.
“I was just like, why are we so underrepresented? That’s not democracy. People are entitled to their opinion and nobody should be shunned for it. So I felt obliged to start making content about the side that wasn’t being shared,” she said.
Now Austin continues to cover sports, which she said she loves and is passionate about.
In addition, Austin said covering sports keeps her out of an echo chamber. She told Fox News Digital that “it keeps me meeting new people and hearing new perspectives and seeing new places.”
Austin, who is “proudly Jewish,” embraces her platform to share about Israel and Judaism.
“Most of my followers are not Jews,” she said. “So I feel like God gave me another mission. I have many missions, but this is certainly one of them.”
