Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to this edition of Amy and TJ. Thank
Speaker 1: you for being with us. I feel like these days
Speaker 1: there is something everyone can agree on. We are in
Speaker 1: a tough we are in an unforgiving political climate. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of fear, finger pointing and fear mongering going
Speaker 1: on on both sides, and there's a lot of misinformation
Speaker 1: circulating these days. It's confusing sometimes to know what you
Speaker 1: read and to know if it's true or not. People
Speaker 1: are losing their jobs and positions, and you know, we're
Speaker 1: not just talking about federal employees. That certainly has made
Speaker 1: a lot of headlines and high level officials. There is
Speaker 1: a story here in New York that caught our attention.
Speaker 1: A college student at New York University NYU was pushed
Speaker 1: to resign her position after she gave a few quotes
Speaker 1: to Vanity Fair magazine in an article about her fellow student.
Speaker 1: You might have heard of him, Baron Trump. That student
Speaker 1: is cut Walker. She was the New York University chapter
Speaker 1: president of the College Republicans. But shortly after that Vanity
Speaker 1: Fair article was published on February twelfth, Kaya was asked
Speaker 1: to resign her position by the College Republicans. While also
Speaker 1: I think in the same breath inviting Baron Trump to
Speaker 1: become a member. Kaya is now joining us to talk
Speaker 1: about what happened the aftermath, how she's doing now, and
Speaker 1: what she actually said that was so terrible. Kya, thank
Speaker 1: you for being with us, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: How you doing.
Speaker 2: I'm doing a lot better than I was maybe this
Speaker 2: time last week. So I'm hanging in here.
Speaker 3: Okay, how was it at this time last week? Described
Speaker 3: for me? You said it's better now? How bad was it?
Speaker 4: Okay, So this all happened. I'm in London right now.
Speaker 2: So it happened like in the wee hours of Monday
Speaker 2: morning for me, Sunday night for you guys, and a
Speaker 2: call I got calls on the phone about this interview
Speaker 2: I had done. That was, you know, circulating online, and
Speaker 2: I spent the entire night awake on the phone, just
Speaker 2: talking to people trying to see what was going on,
Speaker 2: because you know, I have this distance between me and
Speaker 2: what's going on on campus in New York, and I
Speaker 2: was just I was seeing comments online coming in and
Speaker 2: I was I was kind of freaking out, so I
Speaker 2: didn't get I hadn't gotten much sleep, I wasn't really
Speaker 2: eating and I was just very worried.
Speaker 3: Okay, worried, what though, Well, what did you see that
Speaker 3: you thought, Oh, you started getting calls and all this stuff,
Speaker 3: But what was your understanding of what the problem was
Speaker 3: and what you had done?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 2: Well for you know the way that I've you know,
Speaker 2: kind of interpreted it, It's it's a semantic issue really,
Speaker 2: Like I had given this interview to Vanity Fair, and
Speaker 2: part of the quote that was used in that article
Speaker 2: was made a headline by another publication, the Independent, and
Speaker 2: that was picked up by other publications around and it.
Speaker 4: Was spread on Twitter.
Speaker 2: I've heard that, you know, the word for what happened
Speaker 2: to me is cide of Genesis.
Speaker 4: So this quote that I took, I said.
Speaker 2: That the quote was, you know, Baron Trump is an
Speaker 2: audity on campus, something along those lines.
Speaker 4: He goes to school, he goes home.
Speaker 2: That that was the quote, and it was made a
Speaker 2: headlined to make it seem that, like like I was
Speaker 2: saying that there was something wrong with him being a commuter.
Speaker 2: So so that's essentially what happened. That's what people were
Speaker 2: really upset about.
Speaker 5: And yeah, you put the word oddity in the same
Speaker 5: sentence as Baron Trump and even though you meant it
Speaker 5: that it's unusual that he isn't staying on campus.
Speaker 1: It people inferred that you were just saying he was odd.
Speaker 1: Is that your understanding, Yeah, it's.
Speaker 2: It wasn't even that, like, I wasn't even saying that
Speaker 2: he like that was odd that he didn't stay on campus.
Speaker 2: But it's like the phenomenon of having the president's on
Speaker 2: your campus. It's something very it's you know, it's a
Speaker 2: new experience. It's it's a rarity. I'd say that's the
Speaker 2: word that I could have used, but people took issue
Speaker 2: with the word oddity, and that's.
Speaker 5: Why I'm here.
Speaker 3: Cay, you give us a better idea if you have
Speaker 3: some specifics that you remember what kind of things were
Speaker 3: coming at you from people that might've even surprised you.
Speaker 3: One word oddity and one little quote turned into something,
Speaker 3: at least as far as I read, some pretty nasty
Speaker 3: stuff coming your way. Can you give us some examples
Speaker 3: and an idea of the stuff people were saying to you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, people, people's reaction online was yeah, I know, it
Speaker 2: was terrible. I was reading all these comments on Twitter
Speaker 2: because that's where it really blew up. People were making
Speaker 2: speculations about I don't know my race. People were people were,
Speaker 2: you know, saying that I needed to be punished, stuff
Speaker 2: like that, and and you know, just saying that I
Speaker 2: was like a terrible person.
Speaker 4: A bunch of misogynistic stuff as well that I read.
Speaker 4: You know, it was pretty bad.
Speaker 2: But these are just strangers on the internet that obviously
Speaker 2: didn't read the original article that was I would say
Speaker 2: it was pretty fine. I was actually really happy with
Speaker 2: the original article, like I thought it was.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was, it was fine.
Speaker 2: I didn't say anything wrong, and I don't think I
Speaker 2: said anything wrong. Still, I was making a completely agnostic statement.
Speaker 2: It wasn't positive, It wasn't negative. It was more of
Speaker 2: an observation of how things are like on campus. With
Speaker 2: the president's son in attendance that said.
Speaker 1: Kaya, wow, you are twenty one, twenty two.
Speaker 4: I'm twenty one, yet you're twenty.
Speaker 1: One years old. Have you ever experienced you know, we
Speaker 1: all hear about getting canceled online social media comments going crazy,
Speaker 1: and you can read about it and say, oh, that
Speaker 1: must be a terrible experience, but to actually have lived
Speaker 1: through it at the age of twenty one, tell me
Speaker 1: how that felt. What it was like for you, and
Speaker 1: probably even for your parents and your family and everyone
Speaker 1: who loves you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, I mean, I didn't really expect this.
Speaker 2: Like I said, it was a very innocuous sort of statement,
Speaker 2: and I've given the same interview multiple times where I
Speaker 2: said the same thing essentially. So I was just surprised, really,
Speaker 2: and reading things online it made me very scared, to
Speaker 2: be honest, But more than anything, I was worried about
Speaker 2: my family because they would have to, you know, read this.
Speaker 2: My mother very concerned, very very Yeah, she was very
Speaker 2: upset about this, and that sort of made me. She
Speaker 2: had been getting calls about this, people had been sending
Speaker 2: it to her. I didn't really want to speak to
Speaker 2: it about to speak speak about this to anyone, Like
Speaker 2: I was very I was trying to keep to myself
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, stay focused on school over.
Speaker 4: Here in London.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to talk about it, but people kept
Speaker 2: sending it to me, sending it to my family, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 2: I became more angry more than anything, because I just
Speaker 2: thought that this was so ridiculous and I just I
Speaker 2: just couldn't believe what was happening.
Speaker 4: It's insane.
Speaker 3: Your chapter of the College Republicans actually put out a statement.
Speaker 3: I was surprised in reading the line that they said
Speaker 3: that what you said was unfairly framed, and upon review,
Speaker 3: we still found it inappropriate. I guess you read those statement,
Speaker 3: What does that mean to you? Why would they take
Speaker 3: that approach? They actually said, yeah, it was taken out
Speaker 3: of context, but it was still inappropriate. I don't can't
Speaker 3: make sense of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So that press release was from the College Problems
Speaker 2: of America, which is technically like our parent, our national organization,
Speaker 2: So my chapter didn't have anything to do with, you know,
Speaker 2: me resigning at all. So essentially, what was happening, Like
Speaker 2: I said, I was up all night last Sunday night.
Speaker 2: What was happening was I was getting calls from them.
Speaker 2: They were very upset. They had been asking me to
Speaker 2: recruit Baron for months and I told him that that
Speaker 2: wasn't a realistic sort of sort of thing, and after
Speaker 2: this came out, they were very angry that. You know,
Speaker 2: it essentially sounded like I was calling the president's son
Speaker 2: weird after they had been trying to recruit him into
Speaker 2: my chapter for however long that he's he's he's been
Speaker 2: on campus.
Speaker 3: So wait, Kanya, Do I have it right for a
Speaker 3: second there? Do you this played into it? They're trying
Speaker 3: to recruit their prize and they think you heard it
Speaker 3: in some way exactly.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think it was a prospect personally, I
Speaker 2: don't think going to happen. And I told them, I
Speaker 2: told them that I was very honest with him about that,
Speaker 2: and they in that in that same press release, they
Speaker 2: made a statement welcoming him. Welcoming him in people have
Speaker 2: been talking about him replacing me as president, which is
Speaker 2: just not something that's going to happen. That's not realistic,
Speaker 2: it's not reflective of reality.
Speaker 4: But I feel like me, this whole.
Speaker 2: Controversy surrounding you know this, that one word that I said,
Speaker 2: it was kind of seen as an opportunity to, you know,
Speaker 2: kind of get me out and replace me.
Speaker 3: Look, I didn't get this, but this was this is
Speaker 3: this is politics playing out on the college campuses. To
Speaker 3: your point, what you're saying there about the College Republicans
Speaker 3: of America president, he said in the statement, we are
Speaker 3: extending an invitation to join our organization to the president's
Speaker 3: and quote, he represents the future of the conservative movement,
Speaker 3: and we will be honored to have him join College
Speaker 3: Republicans of America. Are you were you just chop liver?
Speaker 3: Are you just kind of you just kind of got
Speaker 3: dismissed and ditched on the way to their ultimate goal?
Speaker 3: Is that what happened to you?
Speaker 2: That's certainly what it feels like. And I'd say, yeah,
Speaker 2: that's an accurate statement. So they did acknowledge that I
Speaker 2: was taken out of context by the Independent first, but
Speaker 2: then they said it was inappropriate.
Speaker 4: So I was kind of given the option before I resigned.
Speaker 2: I was either given the option of not resigning, getting
Speaker 2: decharted and getting put under the thrown under the bus,
Speaker 2: or resigning. They they released a statement about how I
Speaker 2: was taken out of context, but they still did end
Speaker 2: up throwing the end of the bus. They said it
Speaker 2: was inappropriate when it was an innocuous statement, very agnostic,
Speaker 2: very very normal.
Speaker 1: Kaya. The other thing that they said that the National
Speaker 1: Chapter said in regards to what happened, they said that,
Speaker 1: rather than redirecting the inquiry to our communications team or
Speaker 1: refuting the premise, she used language that did not align
Speaker 1: with our standards of professionalism and responsibility, inadvertently contributing to
Speaker 1: a misleading and negative portrayal, are you not. Has it
Speaker 1: ever been told to you before that you cannot speak
Speaker 1: on behalf of your chapter, that you aren't allowed to
Speaker 1: give interviews.
Speaker 4: No, And that's the funny thing.
Speaker 2: So I actually sent the article to their press secretary
Speaker 2: after it came out, and she was very happy about
Speaker 2: it because I had given this exact interview multiple times.
Speaker 2: I've always fielded questions, but that's what people are interested
Speaker 2: in nowadays. They just asked me questions about Baron, and
Speaker 2: I've been answering, I've never been seen him on campus.
Speaker 2: I've never obviously, I've never met him, but people ask
Speaker 2: me questions. You don't even have to be the president
Speaker 2: of the College Republicans on campus to be asked about Baron.
Speaker 2: You can just say I go to NYU, people ask you,
Speaker 2: have you seen him? Have you like, what's it like
Speaker 2: having him on campus? And like you could be at
Speaker 2: the dinner table with your grandmother, She'll ask you this
Speaker 2: sort of questions, kind of like the experience of being
Speaker 2: a student at NYU nowadays.
Speaker 1: So, guy, it's funny. My daughter, I've asked her and
Speaker 1: she was telling me that when she sees Secret Service
Speaker 1: or when she you know, so, yes, it is a
Speaker 1: topic of interest. Probably one of the main reasons is
Speaker 1: we have not heard from Baron. Baron hasn't isn't a
Speaker 1: public figure, He doesn't have public social media accounts. Some
Speaker 1: people I don't even know that I know what his
Speaker 1: voice sounds like. So because and we've talked about this
Speaker 1: so many times, when you don't hear from someone directly,
Speaker 1: people fill in the voids or are begging other people
Speaker 1: to do the same. So I'm curious, do you regret
Speaker 1: resigning now everything that you know what's happened. If you
Speaker 1: had to go back to that night when they called
Speaker 1: you and they said what they said, what do you
Speaker 1: wish you would have done?
Speaker 2: Well, Yeah, for sure, I wish I would have waited
Speaker 2: it out because I was just very scared. Like I've
Speaker 2: never I'm yeah, I'm I'm a young lady. I've never
Speaker 2: gone through anything like this before in my life. I
Speaker 2: kind of saw this whole endeavor of being involved with
Speaker 2: the College Republicans as something I did for fun, to
Speaker 2: make friends and you know, kind of make my give
Speaker 2: us the presence on campus. And I was very happy
Speaker 2: doing that the past four years. But yeah, it just yeah,
Speaker 2: I didn't expect any of this to happen, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm dealing with it even now. It's just it's kind
Speaker 2: of like a fever dream to me, honestly, Like I
Speaker 2: can't believe this is happening. It's the most instant thing
Speaker 2: that's happened to me in my life. And I'm just gonna, yeah,
Speaker 2: I wish I had not resigned. I've been I've built
Speaker 2: up my chapter so much. I've been putting a lot
Speaker 2: of my time and energy into into what I've been
Speaker 2: building on campus, and I was very I'm very proud
Speaker 2: of it. Still. I love all those kids that you know,
Speaker 2: my members, they love me too, Like they they wish
Speaker 2: I didn't have to resign.
Speaker 4: They were telling me not to.
Speaker 2: Actually I was getting that advice a lot, like don't resign.
Speaker 2: But it's like I said, I was giving that choice
Speaker 2: between yeah, being thrown under the bus entirely or being
Speaker 2: thrown to the bus partially. So it was a very
Speaker 2: hard choice and I was like very sleep deprived, and
Speaker 2: I yeah, I was just I made that statement just
Speaker 2: so I could get a break, because I was getting
Speaker 2: a barrage of all this attention. I really didn't.
Speaker 3: Want it cal you mentioned you kind of joined the
Speaker 3: College Republicans. You thought it was a good networking opportunity
Speaker 3: for you. But I assume you only joined the College
Speaker 3: Republicans because you in some way politically align with Republicans.
Speaker 3: So let me ask you that officially on the record here,
Speaker 3: since everybody went to come at you and say you
Speaker 3: were some anti Trump in some way, But would you
Speaker 3: consider yourself a Republican the conservative and have been a
Speaker 3: Trump support?
Speaker 4: Yes, for sure.
Speaker 2: I also I knocked on doors for him. So, like
Speaker 2: I grew up in for the most part, in New
Speaker 2: York City, as you can imagine, Like I to New
Speaker 2: York City public schools and I was the only person
Speaker 2: in my school who who thought this way, and I
Speaker 2: would I would have discussions with my friends, and they
Speaker 2: were friendly discussions most of the time. But I've always
Speaker 2: had to, you know, to to defend what I believe in.
Speaker 2: And I went into college and I and I looked
Speaker 2: for people who thought like me because I'd never met them, like,
Speaker 2: not even my parents at home. My parents are both Democrats,
Speaker 2: so so you know, I was kind of looking for
Speaker 2: my community, and I wanted to make friends, and that's
Speaker 2: how I got involved I'm certainly a Republican.
Speaker 3: Parents made any jokes or anything as Democrats like, see, we.
Speaker 1: Told you not to be messed with Republicans.
Speaker 4: That's I've gone that so much. My mother told me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my mother told me I should reconsider who I
Speaker 2: who I associate with. And honest I do think she's
Speaker 2: She's right, Like, there are some people who are cowards
Speaker 2: out there, who who I think don't reflect well on
Speaker 2: our party. And and they're just they're they're opportunistic, they're
Speaker 2: they're careless, like they don't really care about you know,
Speaker 2: chapter or you know, with a good work I'm doing
Speaker 2: with these kids. I've been getting compliments like the past
Speaker 2: year before this happened about how I was running my
Speaker 2: chapter and how I was doing such a good job.
Speaker 2: And to see them turn on me very quickly was
Speaker 2: something that was so disappointing. And yeah, I'll never forget it.
Speaker 2: It's a good lesson.
Speaker 1: I think it's a hard lesson to learn at your age,
Speaker 1: but it is a good lesson that will serve you well.
Speaker 1: Some of us have learned it a lot later in life.
Speaker 1: But I'm curious you said when you read the article
Speaker 1: that Vanity Fair put out you were happy with it,
Speaker 1: you were proud of it. So I'm curious where your
Speaker 1: frustration lies. It's not with vanity fair, is it, or
Speaker 1: in that sense, the mainstream media. Is it more that
Speaker 1: certain people caved to social media pressure? Where do you
Speaker 1: think the pressure came from? And this knee jerk reaction
Speaker 1: of asking you to resign? Do you place fault in
Speaker 1: anyone corner, in anyone's corner? Who who is to blame
Speaker 1: for all of this? In your mind?
Speaker 2: In your opinion, that's a that's a hard question, Like
Speaker 2: I do. I mean, it's easy to blame myself, honestly,
Speaker 2: because I did the interview in the first place. But
Speaker 2: I really don't think there's anything wrong with what I said.
Speaker 2: And I'll stand on that like I'll die on that hill.
Speaker 2: Like I'm not gonna apologize for what I said either.
Speaker 2: Like what I said was was very it was very
Speaker 2: it was very normal. It's something that anybody could say
Speaker 2: if you went to NYU. It's an observation. This whole
Speaker 2: situation I feel was made worse by you know, forcing
Speaker 2: me to resign. I feel like this could have been
Speaker 2: a lot more like it could have I had to
Speaker 2: resign for appearances.
Speaker 4: Really, That's that's the way I see it.
Speaker 2: And I've like, I've been told, you know, not to
Speaker 2: give any statements, to to shut up essentially. I've I've
Speaker 2: been told not to give any statements anywhere by by
Speaker 2: people in high places, and I'm I'm obviously not doing that.
Speaker 2: I need to clarify what I said and you know,
Speaker 2: kind of explain the circumstances of my current predicament. I
Speaker 2: feel like this was, yeah, this was seemed like an
Speaker 2: opportunity to you know, gain some political clout for some people.
Speaker 2: And I'm not going to name names, but I just, yeah,
Speaker 2: I wish that we I wish that, you know, the
Speaker 2: people that I would have otherwise, you know, kind of
Speaker 2: expected to come to my defense. And you know, you know,
Speaker 2: it's one thing to you know, like point out that
Speaker 2: I had been taken out of context, but and to
Speaker 2: say that I'd been taken out of context, that it
Speaker 2: was more delicious and to actually you know, defend my
Speaker 2: right to say that, especially after I've said it so
Speaker 2: many times that this is what it's like on campus.
Speaker 2: I just wish that people had you know, stood up
Speaker 2: and you know, just yeah, stood on business and and been.
Speaker 4: There for me.
Speaker 2: I've had plenty of people there for me who've you know,
Speaker 2: shown me how much they you know, checked in on
Speaker 2: me this past week, showed me how much they loved me,
Speaker 2: and that's been getting me through. But I'm just very
Speaker 2: disappointed with certain people, yeah who who who claim to
Speaker 2: care about this organization. I've been very disappointed in them
Speaker 2: and their inability to actually stand up for their ideals
Speaker 2: and stand up for their people.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, you said you don't want to name names,
Speaker 3: but we can tell you want to, but we're not
Speaker 3: going to push.
Speaker 4: I certainly do.
Speaker 2: I've been I've been told not to.
Speaker 3: That's that's all. I respect that. Respect that because you're
Speaker 3: respecting that. But I have to ask. It is kind
Speaker 3: of early, so maybe don't have an answer yet. Does
Speaker 3: this Is this possibly going to cause you to change
Speaker 3: or reconsider in some way your politics and your party?
Speaker 4: Uh No, I don't think so.
Speaker 5: Not.
Speaker 2: I I stand from what I believe in. I just
Speaker 2: I just have like severe trust issues right now. I'm
Speaker 2: very Yeah, I'm not gonna yeah, I'm I'm just I'm
Speaker 2: gonna be a lot more careful with, you know, trusting
Speaker 2: people in politics. Like I don't think I'm the most
Speaker 2: political individual in the world. Actually, Like I don't think
Speaker 2: I like politics. I just I have a certain sense
Speaker 2: of beliefs. I have this affiliation with the party, and
Speaker 2: I've always looked for an affinity with other people who
Speaker 2: thought the same because I didn't find that when I
Speaker 2: was growing up as a kid. So that's what I've
Speaker 2: been looking for. I've been having lots of fun doing it.
Speaker 2: I've been able to campaign. I've met really cool people,
Speaker 2: and the kids at NYU, like my Republicans, like they're
Speaker 2: so like they're great kids, all of them. And yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm very proud of what I've I've done the past
Speaker 2: four years. And I don't think this is the end
Speaker 2: for the end for me in this political space. But
Speaker 2: I have so many other things that I want to
Speaker 2: do with my life, Like, I have so many other
Speaker 2: things going for me, So I don't I don't like
Speaker 2: maybe this has happened to me, Like a year or
Speaker 2: two ago, I would have thought, oh, this is the
Speaker 2: end of the world. But yeah, I have so many
Speaker 2: people who love me, like my family, my friends, that
Speaker 2: and I do well in school and you know, I
Speaker 2: work hard, So I don't think that this is the
Speaker 2: end for me by any means, I'm going to continue.
Speaker 1: I love that. For all the people out there who
Speaker 1: took to social media and accused you of being anti
Speaker 1: Trump or anti Republican, or a closeted Democrat, whatever they
Speaker 1: wanted to say, can you and I know you've probably
Speaker 1: had to give this speech to your parents even but
Speaker 1: what is it about the Republican Party and your belief
Speaker 1: system that makes you feel the way you do about
Speaker 1: this administration? Given all of the headlines and unrest and
Speaker 1: change and upheaval that's happened. Tell us why you are
Speaker 1: supporter of Trump and the Republican Party.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, essentially, like I just grew up in a way
Speaker 2: that was naturally conservative. I leaned that way, and I
Speaker 2: wanted I want to be represented by you know, candidates
Speaker 2: who are you know, support free speech on food, support
Speaker 2: free commerce, things like the individual individual liberties, limited government.
Speaker 2: That's something that I've always valued very much, religious freedom.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: I just want to be able to live my life
Speaker 2: in a way that is, you know, as uninhibited as possible.
Speaker 2: I'm not I used to be like a libertarian when
Speaker 2: I was when I was like a young person, but
Speaker 2: you kind of realize that you have to live in
Speaker 2: a society with rules and then it's not you know,
Speaker 2: a free for all like that. And I aligned myself
Speaker 2: with the Right because I just found all of my
Speaker 2: my sort of values reflected in them. I wouldn't say that,
Speaker 2: I'm like I I stand firm in that and like,
Speaker 2: like I said, I'm not going to change my party affiliation.
Speaker 2: I'm not a closetive, closetive Democrat. I've I've I've never
Speaker 2: heard that one before. Honestly, like my entire life, I've
Speaker 2: had to you know, stand on business about being thinking
Speaker 2: the way that I do.
Speaker 4: So that's a new one.
Speaker 2: But but yeah, I just I, like many Americans, I
Speaker 2: just want to I want my family to be able
Speaker 2: to afford groceries, for instance. And I feel like between
Speaker 2: the two parties there are differences and how we would
Speaker 2: address that sort of problem, like cost of living is
Speaker 2: a huge thing.
Speaker 1: But I.
Speaker 2: Veer towards the way that Republicans are trying to solve
Speaker 2: that problem. And it's just I disagree about this with
Speaker 2: my mother, with both both my parents, but it's just
Speaker 2: the way things are of half of America thinks one way.
Speaker 2: Half of America thinks another and I just yeah, I
Speaker 2: just leaned towards the right. It's just how things turned out.
Speaker 2: I can't do anything about it.
Speaker 3: Bet, holiday dinners are fun though, right, No, for sure?
Speaker 3: Can you tell me that you called, yes, you use
Speaker 3: the word oddity, but and you also said that other
Speaker 3: folks from the National Chapter and whatnot who wanted him
Speaker 3: to be a part Barren to be a part of
Speaker 3: the group on NYU campus. You said it was pie
Speaker 3: in the sky. You knew it, but they didn't know it.
Speaker 3: How do you know that's an idea being on campus,
Speaker 3: we know he's there, but a day to day life
Speaker 3: or an NYU student. Do you even feel his presence
Speaker 3: in any way?
Speaker 2: Uh No, I mean you feel it in that like
Speaker 2: people from externally will ask you about him, like I mentioned,
Speaker 2: but also like people on campus sort of make a
Speaker 2: frenzy about it. Like I remember, we had just maybe
Speaker 2: in September, we had just heard the news that he
Speaker 2: was matriculated in the school. We were like we were recruiting.
Speaker 2: We were we had like a club fest where we
Speaker 2: had like a bunch of you know, we had table
Speaker 2: set up and we were kind of.
Speaker 4: Like marketing our clubs. So we were marketing the College
Speaker 4: Republicans on campus, and people would come up to us
Speaker 4: and be like, oh.
Speaker 2: Is Baron a member? Is Baron a member? And it's
Speaker 2: it's that sort of hysteria that occurs on campus and
Speaker 2: also online because people are are obsessed with with this
Speaker 2: this kid, Like it's just it's kind of like they
Speaker 2: form like this parasocial relationship with him, and and they
Speaker 2: you know, expect, yeah, you become a part of it
Speaker 2: because you're on campus. But I've never actually I've never
Speaker 2: seen him. I don't go to the business school.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: I just know that's he's followed by security detail and
Speaker 2: he doesn't really stay around campus. Like the big The
Speaker 2: thing that I thought was crazy and this whole ordeal
Speaker 2: was because people were saying that, oh, I did the
Speaker 2: same thing. I went to class and I went home.
Speaker 2: I did the same thing. I was a commuter too,
Speaker 2: And I'm like, when I'm in New York, I am
Speaker 2: also a commuter. Like unless I have something to do
Speaker 2: with I'm meeting up with a friend for like lunch
Speaker 2: or something, or I have a cr event to go to,
Speaker 2: I go straight home too.
Speaker 4: I have a long commute.
Speaker 2: I don't have time to stick around, and I have
Speaker 2: plenty of work to do, so I just thought that
Speaker 2: this is all insane, and yeah, it's been a predicament, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a total misunderstanding. If you could say anything
Speaker 1: to President Trump right now, what would you say, I.
Speaker 4: Mean, keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2: I campaign for you, and obviously, yeah, I'm a fan,
Speaker 2: and I don't know what else does. I've never had
Speaker 2: to really defend my book my beliefs like this is.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've had to defend my beliefs to you know,
Speaker 2: my family and people who think i'm adversely, but I've
Speaker 2: never been accused of, you know, being a.
Speaker 4: Fake Republican or anything like that. That's sort of insane.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: We asked that what you would say to President Trump?
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this way another way. Do you
Speaker 3: think he would be at all at odds with what
Speaker 3: you said?
Speaker 2: I mean, I would hope not, because what I said,
Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with what I said. I wasn't attacking anybody.
Speaker 2: But also I feel like there are bigger things out there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they're bigger, Like he's the person, he's the leader of
Speaker 2: the free world. I feel like he has bigger things
Speaker 2: to worry about than some some random college student giving
Speaker 2: an interview to Vanity Fair. I wasn't even the only
Speaker 2: person interviewed in that in that piece, like there were
Speaker 2: other NYU students asked about the same sort of phenomenon.
Speaker 2: So I don't know, obviously it's it's it's I wouldn't
Speaker 2: say it's like something I think about every day that
Speaker 2: the president's son goes to my school, but when I asked,
Speaker 2: I do think about it then, and I'm asked very
Speaker 2: often enough that it's something that I give a response
Speaker 2: to because that's just the I'm trying to explain the
Speaker 2: reality of what things are like.
Speaker 1: And Kai, I hope you don't mind me saying this.
Speaker 1: A lot of people will just hear you. We don't
Speaker 1: have too much of a video element to this, but
Speaker 1: I can see you're talking to us, and I can
Speaker 1: see your chest is blotchy like this, like your emotions
Speaker 1: are coming forward, just physically even, And I just want
Speaker 1: people to understand. You read a story like this and
Speaker 1: you think it's nothing and silly or whatever, but the
Speaker 1: impact is significant on a personal level. To go through
Speaker 1: something like this at your age is traumatizing, to say
Speaker 1: the least. You mentioned that you have learned a lesson.
Speaker 1: What are you going to take from all of this
Speaker 1: and how are you going to apply it to your life?
Speaker 1: You know, talk about your plans and how you're going
Speaker 1: to use this experience to maybe be a little more
Speaker 1: wise in the ways of the world as you start
Speaker 1: out on your life. You're twenty one, you're graduating in
Speaker 1: a couple of months, So do you have any idea
Speaker 1: how this will impact your way forward?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: So so, really, I think that I've in this whole ordeal,
Speaker 2: I've kind of showed myself that you know, I've I've
Speaker 2: gone through I feel like like any young woman, I've
Speaker 2: gone through, you know, crises in my life, and I
Speaker 2: just I feel like I've gotten better at dealing with
Speaker 2: them as I've gotten older, and the fact that I'm
Speaker 2: like I am, I'm very disturbed at what happened to
Speaker 2: be honest, like it has been manifesting physically, like you said, but.
Speaker 4: I've I've gotten better at dealing with them.
Speaker 2: Like It's never the end of the world, Like I'm
Speaker 2: always going to have people, you know, who are there
Speaker 2: for me, who are going to reach out to me,
Speaker 2: and who loved me, who I love back and I'm
Speaker 2: going to continue to lean on those people and you know,
Speaker 2: trust beeople who deserve my trust, and I'm going to
Speaker 2: you know, focus on the endeavors that like I've been spending.
Speaker 2: Like I've told you, I've dedicated the past four years
Speaker 2: to this organization and I'm still very dedicated to my chapter.
Speaker 4: But I'm going to I just have so much much.
Speaker 2: Out there for me, Like I think I've worked hard
Speaker 2: in my entire life, and I'm not going to let
Speaker 2: something like this really, you know, push me, push me
Speaker 2: off track.
Speaker 3: I'm going to still dedicated to your chapter. Is what
Speaker 3: got me the again. I guess you're holding a more
Speaker 3: against the national chapter than the local one having responsibility.
Speaker 3: But that was just kind of big of you to
Speaker 3: hear you say something like that. These folks have kind
Speaker 3: of put you through hell, you're still committed to the
Speaker 3: organization on campus.
Speaker 2: No, No, the organization on campus didn't do anything to
Speaker 2: me like these like I'm telling you, Like we are
Speaker 2: the most like laid back sort of like our meetings.
Speaker 4: We meet once a week.
Speaker 2: All we do is eat pizza and talk like it's
Speaker 2: not it's not an a thing like super sophistic kid
Speaker 2: like we have debates sometimes with the Democrats, but it's
Speaker 2: not anything like we're we're just we're all friends.
Speaker 4: Like I love all those kids.
Speaker 2: I can say it a million times, and they've supported
Speaker 2: me through this, like my my, like my kids at
Speaker 2: n YU, Like we're all pretty solid.
Speaker 4: We're good, we're good kids. I'd say.
Speaker 2: We've just kind of had the imposition of these of
Speaker 2: the National Chapter, i'd say, and other other organizations that
Speaker 2: you know, kind of have yeah, sort of disrupted, are
Speaker 2: sort of fun. The fun that we've had together in
Speaker 2: the past four years, i'd say.
Speaker 3: And the last thing here, I want to ask, because
Speaker 3: you mentioned in earlier said some things were coming at
Speaker 3: you and folks were mentioning and asking about your race.
Speaker 3: How did that factor into I'm sitting here looking at you.
Speaker 3: I don't know your background, people hearing your voice don't
Speaker 3: know it, but it was race. What is your background
Speaker 3: and did race to have any do you think factor
Speaker 3: in all of this?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so my mother's Dominican, my father's My father's just
Speaker 2: from New York like I I, I'm a black woman, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't think it had any factor into you know,
Speaker 2: how I was forced to resign, But the comments that
Speaker 2: people left online definitely did have to do with that,
Speaker 2: because maybe like the fourth organization that kind of you know,
Speaker 2: picked this story up was was a groper page.
Speaker 4: I'd say, so these.
Speaker 2: Are like, you know, I don't I don't really know
Speaker 2: what to call them, not I'm not too familiar, but
Speaker 2: these are people who are obsessed with that sort of thing.
Speaker 2: And I don't think they're not Republicans. I wouldn't say
Speaker 2: they're just just nasty people. So they picked it up
Speaker 2: and they made Yeah, they made it a big deal.
Speaker 2: You know. The way that I looked the pictures that
Speaker 2: they that were circuling latering on online were from me
Speaker 2: when I was maybe like seventeen eighteen. I mean, I
Speaker 2: used to straighten my hair then I looked I looked
Speaker 2: a lot whiter than I do now that I have
Speaker 2: these locks in. But like it was just insane. They
Speaker 2: were coming at me from all all angles. So that's
Speaker 2: just like weird people online. I wouldn't Yeah, it's just
Speaker 2: it was weird to read. I'd say, I've never heard
Speaker 2: anybody talk to me like that before. Eric been called
Speaker 2: as many names as I have, but I don't know,
Speaker 2: I don't know any of those people, and I think
Speaker 2: that they, Yeah, I have my own life, I have
Speaker 2: my own problems.
Speaker 4: I just I'm going to focus on that well.
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, it is a very tough lesson to
Speaker 1: learn at any age, and especially at yours. Bakaya, you
Speaker 1: have handled yourself with so much grace and so much dignity,
Speaker 1: and we really appreciate you coming on to talk about
Speaker 1: what you said while you're unapologetic about what you said
Speaker 1: and the reaction that you're having to deal with at
Speaker 1: the age of twenty one. I mean, I'm super impressed
Speaker 1: with you, and I know you. As you've said. All
Speaker 1: the people who know you know who you are and
Speaker 1: love you, and I'm sure they're a little concerned right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is an environment that none of us
Speaker 1: have really experienced before. It's a tough world out there online,
Speaker 1: and we're just really sorry you had to deal with it.
Speaker 1: But we really appreciate you coming on. And I love
Speaker 1: that you're still talking. I love that you didn't go
Speaker 1: crawling a hole somewhere. I love that you didn't let
Speaker 1: other people speak for you, that you're taking ownership of
Speaker 1: what you said, You're clarifying what you said, and you're
Speaker 1: standing by what you said, So thank you, yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you Kia for being here. We wish you the very best,
Speaker 1: good luck and early congratulations on your graduation that's coming
Speaker 1: up in just a couple of months.
Speaker 4: Thank you, take care of Broth with you.