This post has been updated.
Donald Trump is not popular among Asian-American voters. Only 19% of Asian-American voters see the Republican presidential nominee in a positive light, according to Politico. However, one Chinese-American teenager in Florida is trying to change that number and rally efforts to make sure Trump will be the next president.
Kathy Zhu, 18, is a high school senior and first time voter who’s been busy campaigning for Donald Trump. She’s extremely vocal about her views on social media and has gained quite the following on Twitter with over 12,000 followers. She was initially a Democrat, but has now switched to Republican.
“I was a liberal-Obama lover. But I opened up my eyes to reality,” she told NextShark.
Zhu was born in China and emigrated to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. Her parents, who are small business owners, used to be Hillary Clinton supporters until Zhu converted them. She says that she was on the “Hillary Clinton bandwagon” with all her peers before she started doing research on her own.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
“It’s a bandwagon trend. They hear something from one person and they’ll just automatically believe it because a large number of people believe in the same thing. I noticed I was being fed into that too,” she told Fusion.
“In today’s society, I feel like everyone tries to not offend anyone else. So I think that having a president who’s not politically correct is a really good way to show the real side of what’s happening in America.”
One of the biggest things that pushes Zhu towards Trump is the issue of national security. The Orlando nightclun shooting in particular was very scary to her because of the close proximity to her.
“Trump’s campaign is all about defeating ISIS and national security and making sure everyone in America is safe. I used to be democrat, and I changed to republican because I realized the danger we could be in if we don’t act now.”
When asked about Trump’s misogynistic views and allegations of sexual abuse from multiple women he’s had contact with in the past, Zhu told NextShark:
“What about those times Hillary told rape victims (by her husband) to shut up, laughed in their faces, and tried to hide their allegations? Trump SAID things. Clinton DID things. Women could easily play the victim to get attention. None of these cases have ever proved anything. Trump is not a convicted rapist. Bill is.”
Since taking her political stance, Zhu says that she’s lost friends and has been the subject of bullying both online and offline.
Zhu is also a vocal supporter of “All Lives Matter” and feels that “Black Lives Matter” needs to respect others if they want to be respected.
Zhu is looking to go to college and has applied to 8 universities. She doesn’t have a particular dream school but is planning to join the AFROTC in college.
