Sports Reporter Emily Austin Faced Backlash After Publicly Backing Trump

Sports reporter and conservative influencer Emily Austin faced backlash after coming out as a supporter of President Donald Trump but also received messages of agreement, including from NBA players.

Austin spoke with Fox News Digital about her journey and why she felt compelled to speak out about her values and serve as a voice for what she called the "under-represented." The host of "The Emily Austin Show" said her political commentary started by accident.

Austin has millions of followers across social media platforms. Her Instagram account @emily.austin has over 2.6 million followers.

A former pre-med student at Hofstra University, Austin switched her major to journalism in 2020. She grew frustrated during the coronavirus pandemic.

She often heard the slogan "my body, my choice" at school and initially agreed with it. But she saw hypocrisy in 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 grew repulsed by liberal ideology during her time at Hofstra, including identity politics and what she called a victimization mindset that Generation Z had fallen into.

When she pursued journalism, Austin initially chose between sports and politics and picked 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 took more interest in politics and aligned with President Trump, despite prior disinterest.

In her second year of college, seeing Joe Biden polling higher than Trump concerned her. She posted a dramatic Instagram story threatening to leave the country if Biden won.

That drew a message from a Women for Trump organizer, which led her to learn more about Trump's positions.

Austin then publicly declared her support for Trump. "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.

Her agent advised her to delete the post and stick to sports. She called the aftermath a nightmare.

But the backlash motivated Austin to keep sharing her views. "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.

Classmates also messaged her that they planned to vote for Trump.

Austin realized 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.

Austin still covers sports, which she loves and feels passionate about. She told Fox News Digital that it keeps her out of an echo chamber by letting her meet new people, hear fresh perspectives and visit new places.

Proudly Jewish, Austin uses her platform to share about Israel and Judaism.